Posted Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011
A Cleburne mother and two teenage daughters were among seven people killed in a spree of shooting attacks on buses in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said Friday.
Maria Hartsell, 39, and daughters Karla Hartsell, 19, and Cristina Hartsell, 13, were traveling to spend the holidays with relatives, Maria Hartsell's mother-in-law, Margaret Schneider of Cleburne, said late Friday.
A 14-year-old nephew from Reynosa, Mexico, had joined them and was also killed, said Jorge Rocha, assistant secretary of neighboring Hidalgo state.
Hartsell's daughter Angie was also shot, and her condition Friday night was unknown, Schneider said. Another child, 10-year-old Mike Hartsell, was not injured but saw the killings, she said.
Mexican authorities earlier identified the Cleburne family by the name Sanchez Hernandez. Schneider said Maria was married to her son, Mike Hartsell, and had legally dropped Hernandez and changed her name and her children's to Hartsell.
Area of attacks
The attacks occurred near the border with the state of Tamaulipas, an area that has been the scene of bloody battles between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.
Five gunmen attacked three buses Thursday, killing the seven passengers in what authorities said appeared to be a violent robbery spree.
Rocha said the other bus passengers killed were a young Mexican couple, whose 3-month-old son survived. A bus driver was also killed.
Five gunmen who were believed to have carried out the attacks were later killed by soldiers.
Earlier in their spree, the gunmen shot three people to death and killed a fourth with a grenade in the nearby town of El Higo, Veracruz.
Eyewitness account
On Friday night, Schneider said, she talked to her grandson Mike. He does not speak Spanish and told her that "Mafia" got on the bus and began threatening people.
"My grandson said my daughter-in-law was hitting one man and he shot her in the head," Schneider said. "He also shot Karla and Tina and killed them. He also shot Angie, who has Down syndrome."
Schneider said Maria Hartsell worked in the cafeteria at Santa Fe Elementary School in Cleburne. All the children attend Cleburne schools.
A memorial service will be planned at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Cleburne, she said.
Return to native region
Rocha said that Maria Hartsell, whom he identified as Sanchez Hernandez, was born in Huasteca and was returning to visit relatives there. Karla Hartsell appeared to have been born in Mexico and all three held dual citizenship, he said.
On Thursday, the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros, a Mexican border city north of where the attacks occurred, said in a statement that "several vehicles" including the buses were attacked, but the statement did not specify what the other vehicles were.
The consulate urged Americans to "exercise caution" when traveling in Veracruz and to "avoid intercity road travel at night."
While the specific area where the Thursday attacks occurred is not frequented by foreign travelers, other parts of Huasteca -- a hilly, verdant area on the Gulf coast -- are popular among Mexican tourists and some foreigners.
Staff writer Marty Sabota contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.
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