Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Eyewitness/Survivor of Tijuana Shootout Tells Tale

Pepe's parking lot, where the shoot-out took place (Photo by T.B. Beaudeau)
Pepe's parking lot, where the shoot-out took place (Photo by T.B. Beaudeau)

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, at the corner of Coahuila and Niños Héroes, the area was crowded with people grabbing quick food from the taco carts.

At first it sounded like firecrackers. After a few more shots you could tell that the sounds were coming from different sides of the street. The uneven rhythm of the shots and the fact that one person was carrying a much bigger weapon than the other made it clear what was happening.

Suddenly, people started dropping to the ground or running for cover, careful not to drop their tacos. The shooting stopped, tires squealed, and one could sense that it was safe to stand up. I was slow to react; it was my first Tijuana drive-by.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Although Pepe's parking lot has ads for Hong Kong Club, the shoot-out did not take place at the club; the Hong Kong Club is a half block away, on Coahuila. Pepe's parking lot faces out on Niño Héroes. — T.B. Beaudeau

Two men were down, both apparently shot in the mid-section. One man lay in the street moving as another man held a towel tightly to his left side. Blood was starting to pool underneath him. The man on the sidewalk seemed much worse off: no movement.

A rumor started to circulate that the wounded were undercover Tijuana officers. Within minutes, state police pickups were on the scene, sirens blasting; municipal police pickups, cars, and motorcycles, also. Then the unmarked pickups, lights strobing from concealed spots in the grille.

Officers were jumping out of the pickups and running down the street to the scene of the firefight. The speed of the response and the number of responders lent some credibility to the rumor. Tijuana police look out for each other, and they do so armed to the teeth. The shooters were probably long gone, but it still seemed prudent to leave the area where adrenaline was about to mix with high-power automatic weapons.

For the most part, the drug-war violence has been concentrated in the eastern part of Tijuana. This is downtown Tijuana, Zona Norte, a few minutes’ walk to the busiest land border crossing in the world.

Click here for K. Mennem's initial report on the shooting.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Pepe's parking lot, where the shoot-out took place (Photo by T.B. Beaudeau)
Pepe's parking lot, where the shoot-out took place (Photo by T.B. Beaudeau)

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, at the corner of Coahuila and Niños Héroes, the area was crowded with people grabbing quick food from the taco carts.

At first it sounded like firecrackers. After a few more shots you could tell that the sounds were coming from different sides of the street. The uneven rhythm of the shots and the fact that one person was carrying a much bigger weapon than the other made it clear what was happening.

Suddenly, people started dropping to the ground or running for cover, careful not to drop their tacos. The shooting stopped, tires squealed, and one could sense that it was safe to stand up. I was slow to react; it was my first Tijuana drive-by.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Although Pepe's parking lot has ads for Hong Kong Club, the shoot-out did not take place at the club; the Hong Kong Club is a half block away, on Coahuila. Pepe's parking lot faces out on Niño Héroes. — T.B. Beaudeau

Two men were down, both apparently shot in the mid-section. One man lay in the street moving as another man held a towel tightly to his left side. Blood was starting to pool underneath him. The man on the sidewalk seemed much worse off: no movement.

A rumor started to circulate that the wounded were undercover Tijuana officers. Within minutes, state police pickups were on the scene, sirens blasting; municipal police pickups, cars, and motorcycles, also. Then the unmarked pickups, lights strobing from concealed spots in the grille.

Officers were jumping out of the pickups and running down the street to the scene of the firefight. The speed of the response and the number of responders lent some credibility to the rumor. Tijuana police look out for each other, and they do so armed to the teeth. The shooters were probably long gone, but it still seemed prudent to leave the area where adrenaline was about to mix with high-power automatic weapons.

For the most part, the drug-war violence has been concentrated in the eastern part of Tijuana. This is downtown Tijuana, Zona Norte, a few minutes’ walk to the busiest land border crossing in the world.

Click here for K. Mennem's initial report on the shooting.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader