Mexico security official's convoy ambushed, 4 dead

MORELIA, Mexico – Gunmen armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked a convoy carrying the top security official of the western state of Michoacan on Saturday, killing four and wounding 10 in Mexico's second brazen ambush in as many days.

Public Safety Secretary Minerva Bautista was among the wounded but was recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, said an official at the state attorney general's office who was not authorized to be quoted by name. Bautista was traveling in a bullet-resistant sport utility vehicle.

The dead included two of her bodyguards and two bystanders. Of the other nine people wounded, five were bystanders — including two girls ages 2 and 12 — and four were part of Bautista's security detail.

There was no immediate information on the identity of the attackers, who numbered about 20, or on a possible motive. However, drug violence is common in Michoacan, the home base of the drug cartel known as La Familia.