Nicaraguan police: Woman, 2 kids killed in error

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, July 15 (UPI) -- National Police in Managua shot a woman and two children in error, confusing them for criminals.

Thirteen-year-old Jose Efrain Perez, 11-year-old Aura Marina Reyes and their aunt Katherine Delgadillo, 25, were killed Tuesday when police stopped them along a dark road as they drove home from church.

The driver, Milton Reyes, did not stop because he mistook the Tapir elite police officers for armed criminals. Officers opened fire on the vehicle.

Hours later, National Police Chief Aminta Granera visited the scene and said the shooting was an error and that those responsible would be penalized. She said the officers, who mistook Reyes' car for that of a criminal's, handled the situation irresponsibly.

Nicaraguan police protocol demands officers use cruiser lights and a megaphone to identify themselves to the driver of a vehicle before giving chase, without gunfire, if necessary.

Milton Reyes and his wife, Yelka Noemi Ramirez, said the police officers lacked proper identification.

Public reaction to the shooting has been strong, against a backdrop of previous cases of abuse and negligence by the National Police, including the 2012 death of a motorcyclist who ran a traffic light and the 2008 killing of a minor near a marketplace.