GUERRERO, Mexico, July 20, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A couple from Utah was killed and their son was wounded when they were reportedly shot for going beyond a community police checkpoint in the town of Petatlan in Mexico on Thursday.
According to SDP Noticias, Paul Nielsen, 48, and his wife, Janeth Vazquez, 43, were traveling with their 12-year-old son from the port of Acapulco to Ixtapa Zihuatanejo in the state of Guerrero.
The news account said the incident happened at about 3:30 a.m. between the town of Santa Rosa and the community of Juluchuca.
The family reportedly refused to stop at a community police checkpoint, and community members intercepted and shot them. Their vehicle was taken, the news account said, and their son was left near the Technological University of the Costa Grande, a section of the Mexican Pacific Coast.
State police transported the couple’s bodies to a funeral home “that was qualified as a Forensic Medical Service,” and the boy was taken to Zihuatanejo to give his statement to authorities there.
SDP Noticias said the boy was treated by the Red Cross in Petatlán for his injuries and the emotional trauma he experienced.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help the family with expenses.
