Officials said gunmen opened fire and killed seven people, including some minors, in Mexico's most deadly state, where violence between warring drug cartels has triggered condemnation by the Catholic Church. The attack in the central state ofGuanajuatooccurred at around 2:00 am Monday in a plaza in the city of San Felipe where local police found seven bodies, all male, and a damaged van after reports of gunfire, the local government said in a statement. The officers also found two banners with messages alluding to theSanta Rosa de Lima gang, which operates in the area, the statement said. Messages areoften left on victims' bodiesby cartels seeking to threaten their rivals or punish behavior they claim violates their rules. Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico's deadliest state, according to official homicide statistics. The violent crime is linked to conflict between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and theJalisco New Generation cartel, one of the most powerful in the Latin American nation. Mexican leaders of the Catholic Church condemned the shooting on Monday, calling it "an alarming sign of the weakening of the social fabric, impunity and the absence of peace in vast regions" of the country, which is majority Catholic. "We cannot remain indifferent in the face of the spiral of violence that is wounding so many communities," the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, an organization of Mexican bishops, added in a statement. The shooting was "one more among so many that are repeated with painful frequency", it said. In December, the Church in Mexico called on warring cartels to declare a truce. Guanajuato recorded the most homicides of any state in Mexico last year, with 3,151, 10.5 percent of murders nationwide, according to official figures. Since 2006, when the military launched an anti-drug operation, Mexico has tallied about 480,000 violent deaths. Recent bloodshed in Guanajuato The mass shooting marks the latest deadly attack in Guanajuato, where bystanders and police officers are often casualties amid cartel turf wars. In February, five women and three men wereshot deadin the street in Guanajuato. The month before that, security forces clashed with gunmen in the state, leaving10 suspected criminals deadand three police officers injured. In December 2024,eight people were killedand two others wounded after gunmen pulled up to a roadside stand in Guanajuato and opened fire on customers. Last October, the bodies of 12 slain police officers — all bearingsigns of tortureand left with messages by cartels — were found in different areas of the region. The state prosecutor's office also said the perpetrators left messages in which a cartel claimed responsibility. The bodies were found less than 24 hours aftergunmen attacked a residential centerfor people suffering from addictions in the same municipality, killing four. In June 2024, a baby and a toddler were among six members of the same familymurderedin Guanajuato. In April 2024, a mayoral candidate wasshot dead in the streetin the state just as she began campaigning. The U.S. State Department urges Americans to reconsider traveling to Guanajuato. "Of particular concern is the high number of murders in the southern region of the state associated with cartel-related violence," the department says in atravel advisory. Italy's Trulli: From Past to Present Car bomb outside Palm Springs fertility clinic was act of terrorism, officials say Everything we know about investigation into blast outside Palm Springs fertility clinic
