Suspected gang member dies in shootout with cops

By Sandra Dibble

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 15, 2008

TIJUANA – A suspected San Diego gang member believed to have ties to the Arellano Félix cartel was killed in a shootout this weekend with police outside a children's birthday party in a working-class section of Tijuana, authorities said yesterday.

The man was one of two suspects killed in the incident that left eight others injured, including three children. Also injured was the intended target and owner of the residence, a municipal district chief named Jesús Alberto Hurtado Estrada.

Hurtado and his bodyguard were able to repel the attack, in which the assailants fired dozens of shots and flung a grenade toward an enclosed patio. The injured people were out of danger yesterday, Baja California officials said.

Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, Baja California's attorney general, said the attack pointed to the challenges that police face when they confront organized crime. He said the assault was linked to the detention of a suspect last week on an administrative charge, and the refusal of police under Hurtado's command to release him.

“We are facing one of the most dangerous groups that we've been up against in recent months,” Moreno said.