A family’s birthday trip to Mexico ended in tragedy after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, killing three men and wounding their teenage son.
Siblings Vicente Peña Jr., 38, and Antonio Fernández, 44, and their Mexico-based cousin Jorge Vargas, 22, were shot dead in a roadside attack on Friday evening in Santiago de Papasquiaro, a city in the northern state of Durango. .
Peña Jr.’s son, Jason Peña, who turned 14 on Monday, is currently in a medically induced coma after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the head.
The victims were traveling in a black GMC Yukon with Illinois license plates when they were attacked, local authorities said.
The bodies of all four victims were found on the ground next to the vehicle. Paramedics were seen providing medical aid to one of the victims.
Jason’s maternal grandmother, María Elena Hernández, told Univision Chicago that the three men and her grandson were all shot in the head.
“His grandfather, my son-in-law’s father, told me that the boy had been beaten and that he might have gotten into a fight with the criminals who killed them,” she said.
Vicente Peña Jr. (right), a Chicago resident, was shot and killed Friday in a roadside attack in Durango, Mexico, that killed his brother and nephew and left his son, Jason Peña (left), in a medically induced coma after suffering a had undergone surgery for a gunshot wound to the head
Antonio Fernández of Chicago was shot dead along with his brother Vicente Peña, who also lives in Chicago, and his cousin Jorge Vargas, who lives in Durango. Hernández’s cousin and his brother’s son, Jason Peña, were shot in the head and are in a coma
Tony Peña Sr. told Telemundo Chicago that his son and Hernández were each shot four times in the shoulder and once in the head. Vargas was shot three times.
“I feel very devastated because they killed my whole family,” he said. “That was a massacre, as they say.”
The teen’s mother, Rosy Cabral, has opened an account Spot fundto raise money to transport the boy to Chicago by air ambulance.
“I plan to transfer my son to the US for better care and a better chance of survival,” Cabral wrote.
“I’m waiting until he’s more stable so I can transfer him to (the United States).”
Paramedics tend to Chicago teenager Jason Peña, who was shot in the head during a roadside attack that killed his father, uncle and cousin Friday in Santiago de Papasquiaro, a city in the northern state of Durango.
Mexican authorities found the bodies of all four victims on the ground next to their vehicle
Jorge Vargas was shot at least three times during the roadside attack in Mexico last Friday, which killed him and his two cousins and seriously injured a 14-year-old cousin.
United Giving Home has assisted the family in the process and has contacted the State Department and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Julie Contreras, pastor of the nonprofit, told ABC 7 Chicago that Jason’s youngest brother learned of the shooting.
“It’s very heartbreaking and right now this family is living a nightmare,” Contreras said. “We just want to get them home so they’re safe.”
The disturbing attack comes as the State Department issues a travel advisory for several states in Mexico.
The government is urging U.S. citizens to reconsider traveling to Durango due to “violent crime and gang activity.”