US girl killed by police in Mexico cartel chase, state says

Mexican police gunfire killed a seven-year-old American girl during a drug enforcement operation in Matamoros, the Tamaulipas state prosecutor's office confirmed Friday.

The girl, identified as Aranza and born in the United States, was hit in the head when police opened fire from a helicopter on her family's vehicle, prosecutors said.

Police had captured a local criminal in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, on October 29. The arrest triggered street blockades by gunmen in the area.

Aranza's mother told Mexican media she was travelling in a pickup truck with her husband and five children when they noticed a police helicopter following them. She said the family stopped and her husband got out to say they were civilians with children, but they were fired on anyway.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Jesus Govea told Mexico's Milenio network that the officers were responding to “an attack they allegedly came under” from the ground during the roadblocks.

Govea said the officers who opened fire remained free, but that significant progress was being made in the investigation.