Location Morelia, Michoacán Attack type Grenade Non-fatal injuries At least 100 | Date 15 September 2008 Deaths At least 8 | |
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Target Center Square of the City | ||
The 2008 Morelia grenade attacks took place on 15 September 2008 on the occasion of the Mexican Independence Day anniversary when thousands of people were gathered in the Plaza Melchor Ocampo, the main square of the Mexican city of Morelia, Michoacán. Shortly after the Grito in that city, led by Governor Leonel Godoy, two grenades were thrown into the crowds, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 100.
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The attacks
The first blast was reported shortly after 23:00, on the Plaza itself, as the governor was intoning the traditional vivas to the heroes of the nation; the second took place some minutes later, in a sidestreet located four blocks away.
Two further explosions were reported in the immediate aftermath: one at 01:00, leaving the city along the highway to Salamanca, Guanajuato; and a fourth at 01:15, in the Santa María district in the vicinity of Morelia's bandera monumental.
Suspects
The police have blamed drug cartels for the grenade attacks, specifically the La Familia Michoacana gang. La Familia has denied it and instead blamed Los Zetas. A week after the attacks, police arrested three men of the Los Zetas gang accused of throwing the grenades.
Context
Morelia is the home town of President Felipe Calderón of the PAN, although the state of Michocán has traditionally been controlled by the opposition PRI and PRD. Michoacán has, since Calderón took office, been one of the federal government's focal points in its anti-drug efforts and initial suspicions indicated that the atrocity was probably the work of the drugs cartels, either part of a battle for territory or as a warning to the government. Condemnation of the incident across the country was unanimous, as such tactics of the drug lords in attacking random citizen congregations was unprecedented in Mexican history.