Tijuana Police Chief Gunned Down

Assailants shot and killed Tijuana's police chief Sunday, pumping more than 100 shots into his car as he drove along a busy highway.

Alfredo de la Torre, in charge of the police force in this violent border town since 1998, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Enrique Tellaeche, a spokesman for the Baja California state attorney general's office in Tijuana.

Dozens of investigators combed the city and interviewed witnesses, but no one had been arrested.

"He was well-known and well-liked. We didn't know he was having any problems with anyone," Tellaeche said.

Tijuana Mayor Francisco Vega de la Madrid issued a statement expressing his indignation and urging investigators to get to the bottom of the case. He also appointed an interim chief, Tijuana police Commander Carlos Besneyrigoyen.

Torre was attacked as he drove home from Mass, unaccompanied by his bodyguards, on a three-lane highway that runs along the northern edge of Tijuana, Tellaeche said.

Riddled with bullet holes, his black Chevy Suburban with tinted windows crashed into a palm tree on the side of the road, Tellaeche said.

The windshield bore more than a dozen bullet holes and the three windows on the driver's side had been shot out, as was the front window on the passenger side.

Government news agency Notimex reported that there were four assailants, but investigators said they were unsure of the number of attackers.

Tijuana, a gritty metropolis of 1.2 million people in northwestern Mexico across the border from San Diego, California, has been plagued by waves of violence stemming from smuggling. The city, home to the busiest border crossing on Earth, is one of the main ports of entry for drugs heading into the United States.

De la Torre, who had a long career in law enforcement, was the former director of the state penitentiary in Tijuana.

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