Officer shot dead in Mexican border city

Associated Press - July 18, 2008 5:05 PM ET CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) - Mexican officials say armed men barged into a police station in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and gunned down a lieutenant. Police spokesman Jaime Torre says officers were defenseless against the hail of bullets aimed at Javier Alarcon in the pre-dawn hours. Torre said Friday that Alarcon was recently named on a drug cartel hit list. He did not elaborate. Alarcon is the 20th officer killed this year in this city of 1.3 million across the border from El Paso, Texas. More than 500 people have been murdered in 2008 in Ciudad Juarez in a wave of violence blamed on... [read full story]