Mexican Federal Police Force Attacks US Embassy Vehicle

Mexican federal police fired on a U.S. Embassy vehicle and wounded two U.S. government employees Friday after their vehicle drove into a rural, mountainous area outside the capital where the officers were looking for criminals, Mexican and U.S. officials said.

The two embassy employees were hospitalized, one with a leg wound and the other hit in the stomach and hand, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Hospital officials in Cuernavaca, the nearest city, said they were taken in the afternoon to Mexico City for treatment. The U.S. Embassy said in a statement they were in stable condition.

The Navy said the embassy personnel were heading down a dirt road to the military installation when a carload of gunmen opened fire on them and chased them and a Navy captain accompanying them. The shooting broke out in an area that has been used by common criminals, drug gangs and leftist rebels in the past.

The Americans' vehicle tried to escape, but three other cars joined the original vehicle in pursuing them down the road, the statement said. Occupants of all four vehicles fired, and the Navy captain called more help, it said. Federal police officers and Mexican soldiers then showed up on the road, the statement said.

The U.S. vehicle appeared to be armored and it had diplomatic plates.

The Mexican government official said the wounded were not agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration or FBI, but did not identify which agency they work for.