A Mexican mayor and 17 others have been killed in an incident linked to a drug cartel.
Following the defeat of the first lawsuit, which targeted weapons manufacturers, the Mexican government has threatened to pursue a second gun case in the United States, this time against gun sellers.
According to the Guerrero state security council, gunmen stormed the town hall in the village of San Miguel Totolapan on Wednesday and opened fire on a meeting with the mayor and other officials.
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Among the dead were Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, Juan Mendoza Acosta, a former mayor of the town. Most of the other victims were believed to be local officials.
The walls of the town hall, which were surrounded by children’s fair rides at the time, were left riddled with bullets. However, residents said the attack that killed the mayor occurred a few blocks away.
Mayor Conrado Mendoza Almeda’s left-wing PRD party condemned the “cowardly” assassination and demanded justice.
The attack has been blamed on the Los Tequileros criminal gang, which is linked to a powerful drug cartel.
Police officers and council workers were also killed in the massacre.
Mr Mendoza Almeda’s father, former mayor Juan Mendoza Acosta, was also killed – in his home – before the attack moved to the town hall.
Totolapan is geographically large but sparsely populated mountainous township in a region known as Tierra Caliente, one of Mexico’s most conflict-ridden areas.
The killing of Mendoza brought to 18 the number of mayors slain during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the number of state lawmakers to eight, according to data from Etellekt Consultores.
Mexico’s Congress this week is debating the president’s proposal to extend the military’s policing duties to 2028. Last month, lawmakers approved López Obrador’s push to transfer the ostensibly civilian National Guard to military control.
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