48-hour snapshot of Juarez: 14 deaths

• Tweet

JUAREZ, Mexico, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- At least 14 people were killed in a 48-hour period in Juarez, Mexico, including a municipal police officer and a newspaper vendor, police said.

Federal police said they think the female vendor killed Tuesday was targeted by an area gang that viewed her as a threat to the gang's control of street vendors, CNN reported Wednesday

"La Linea (a drug gang) thought she was discriminating against newspaper vendors they were extorting," municipal police spokesman Adrian Sanchez said.

Police said suspect under arrest told them he was paid $250 for killing Maribel Hernandez, who distributed the El Diario de Juarez newspaper, the largest newspaper by circulation in the city.

Juarez city police officer Ciro Puga Cruz, was killed Tuesday after armed gunmen shot him 15 times at an intersection as he waited for a stoplight to change, CNN said. A witness said the shooting occurred in front of dozens of people and caused a panic.

The gunmen remained at large, police said.