Rival Self-Defense Members Surrender to Authorities in State of Michoacan The Associated Press
go to original December 31, 2014

Mexico Questions 37 Over Shootout in Troubled Western State (Wochit)

MORELIA — The leaders of two rural vigilante groups and 35 of their members have surrendered to authorities following a clash that left 11 dead in the western state of Michoacan, a federal official said Tuesday.

Luis Antonio Torres, better known as "Simon the American" because he grew up in the U.S., and nine of his followers surrendered on Tuesday, three days after his rival, Hipolito Mora, turned himself in. Mora's son had been among the people killed in a Dec. 16 shootout between the two groups at a roadblock near La Ruana, a remote mountain town about 160 miles (300 kilometers) west of Morelia, the state capital.

Federal security commissioner in Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said 37 people were in custody and authorities had identified another 19 who they hoped would also surrender.

What sparked the shootout was unclear, with each side blaming the other. Castillo said it stemmed from "animosity and conflicts between self-defense groups."

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