A man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in the La Bondad neighborhood of Tecate, marking one of three armed incidents to hit the border city on May 12. Municipal police secured the scene, and a subsequent search operation led to the arrest of one suspect.
The shooting took place on Calle Coral Negro in an informal squatter settlement near the Tecate-Mexicali toll highway, between Calle La Bondad and Calle Manganesio. The victim, whose identity has not been released, was found dead at the scene. Authorities turned the investigation over to the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s state attorney general’s office.
Suspect Fired at Police During Arrest
According to El Vigía, the suspect opened fire on FGE agents and municipal police officers before being detained. The gunfire occurred just meters from a preschool in the La Bondad colony. No officers were reported injured in the exchange.
The La Bondad settlement sits along Avenida Diamante, close to the toll highway that connects Tecate to both Tijuana and Mexicali. Travelers using that corridor pass within sight of the area.
Third Armed Attack in Tecate on Same Day
The killing was one of at least three violent episodes in Tecate on Tuesday. Later that evening, at approximately 7:42 p.m., gunmen attacked Ramiro Tolentino Reyes, the prison commissioner for the CERESO El Hongo facility. According to Semanario ZETA, armed men dressed in black intercepted Tolentino Reyes on the Tecate-Tijuana highway near Colonia Miguel Alemán, just before the La Esperanza toll booth. They fired from another vehicle, striking the commissioner in the head and arm. Another penitentiary agent was traveling with him. The attackers fled toward Tijuana.
A separate incident also left a man dead in Tecate’s downtown area on the same day, though details on that case remain limited.
Tecate, a city of roughly 110,000 residents about 35 miles east of Tijuana, is a common crossing point for U.S. residents heading to the wine country of the Valle de Guadalupe or traveling east toward Mexicali. The La Bondad area is located on the city’s outskirts along the toll road infrastructure.
This story was first reported by Jornada BC and confirmed by El Imparcial, El Vigía, and Semanario ZETA.