{"id":9089,"date":"2025-01-03T11:36:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T03:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9089"},"modified":"2025-01-03T11:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T03:36:39","slug":"chicago-teenager-in-a-coma-after-family-shot-at-in-mexico-3-others-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9089","title":{"rendered":"Chicago teenager in a coma after family shot at in Mexico; 3 others killed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Jacksonville police car lights.\u00a9\u00a0Dan Scanlan\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Chicago teenager is in a coma and three of his family members are dead after the group was shot at while vacationing in Mexico last week, according to the U.S. State Department and local reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without naming the victims, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY Thursday that two U.S. citizens were killed and a minor was injured in the north-central Mexican state of Durango.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 14-year-old has been identified as Jason Pe\u00f1a<\/a>, according to nonprofit organizer Julie Contreras, who is working closely with his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the teen was in Durango with his father, 38-year-old Vicente Pe\u00f1a Jr., his uncle, 44-year-old Antonio \u201cTony\u201d Fernandez and another family member who lives in Mexico<\/a>, 22-year-old Jorge Eduardo Vargas Aguirre. All three men died in the shooting, according to local media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family had traveled there to celebrate the teen’s birthday, reported television stations WMAQ-TV<\/a> and WLS-TV<\/a>. The 14-year-old has been placed in a medically-induced coma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing local authorities, WMAQ-TV said the family was in an SUV with Illinois license plates when someone attacked the group. It was not immediately clear Thursday morning what motivated the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durango officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment and neither did Contreras, founder of the nonprofit working with the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. State Department said it has been in touch with the victims’ families and Mexican authorities are conducting an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When a U.S. citizen dies abroad, the Department provides consular assistance to the legal representative, next-of-kin, and family,” the agency said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Depending on the situation, this can include contacting and informing the next-of-kin of the death, (or) providing information on options for local burial or the return of the remains to the United States.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department also helps prepare a Consular Report of Death of a U.S. citizen abroad, the agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grandfather calls shooting ‘a massacre’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The boy\u2019s grandfather, Vicente Pe\u00f1a, spoke to WMAQ-TV in Spanish and said the shooting has wrecked their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I feel very devastated because they wiped out my entire family,” he told the outlet. “It was a massacre….because my son was shot four times in the head and once in the shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teenager\u2019s maternal grandmother, Maria Elena Hernandez, also spoke to the outlet with the help of a translator and said the family wants justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My child is a studious child,\u201d his grandmother said. \u201cHe is studying boxing. Thank God he will not leave us now, but they will not provide insurance for him anymore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WMAQ-TV, spoke to Contreras, who founded a nonprofit called United Giving Hope<\/a>. The nonprofit helps those with active immigration cases across the U.S., Mexico, Central America, South America and other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contreras did not immediately reply to USA TODAY\u2019s requests for comment but spoke to both WMAQ-TV and WLS-TV. Her organization is helping the family bring the teen and his family members back to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As you can only imagine this is a nightmare for his mother,\u201d Contreras told WLS-TV. \u201cRight now what we’re trying to do is provide that advocacy and security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local authorities told the outlet the attack is just the latest among an increase in violent crime in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the statement to USA TODAY, the U.S. State Department said “Durango, Mexico has a Level 2 Exercise Increased Caution Travel advisory due to crime.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Durango Public Security officials announced on Dec. 6 that under Governor Esteban Villegas Villarreal\u2019s leadership<\/a>, Durango has become \u201ca safe and developing state\u201d and is \u201cconsidered among the five most peaceful in the country,\u201d citing the Mexico Peace Index 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the department, 67,545 crime prevention and deterrence actions were carried out this past year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDurango has become a national benchmark for security, which is reflected in new investments and increased tourism, where visitors feel safe, a fundamental factor for economic development and the well-being of the population,\u201d the department wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department added that 258 women who had previously been reported missing were found, citing a 96% success rate in locating them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Pe\u00f1a, the teenager and sole survivor of Friday\u2019s incident in Durango, leaves behind a little brother, Contreras told news outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His family hopes to bury his father and his uncle in Chicago in two weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Chicago teenager is in a coma and three of his family members are dead after the group was shot at while vacationing in Mexico last week, according to the U.S. State Department and local reports. 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