Police in Hidalgo are in hot water after they fired their weapons at a vehicle that turned out to be that of the mayor.

Acatlán Mayor Benito Olvera Muñoz said that shortly after noon on Wednesday he was driving in his truck when armed men got out of a parked vehicle and order him to stop.

Not knowing who they were and fearing a kidnapping attempt, Olvera sped up. The men shot at his vehicle several times, attempting to puncture his tires. Olvera was not injured, but the vehicle was damaged by the gunfire.

Olvera reported the incident to the municipality’s police chief, who discovered that the shooters were ministerial police employed by the Hidalgo Attorney General’s Office.

“ I found out they were police officers who were looking for someone for whom they had an arrest warrant, and they had been circulating pictures of a pickup truck similar to the one I was driving,” said Olvera.

Olvera added that he has already reported the incident to Governor Omar Fayad and Government Secretary Simón Vargas, who confirmed that the shooters were police officers and said they will face consequences because they did not follow protocol.

Source: El Universal (sp), El Independiente de Hidalgo (sp)