A group of gunmen stormed a football stadium in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, opening fire on spectators during a match. The attack left at least 11 dead and 12 injured. Authorities found over 100 bullet casings at the scene. The assault is suspected to have been orchestrated by a local criminal gang operating from prison.
The shooting occurred in the evening of 25 January in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, resulting in at least 11 deaths and 12 injuries during a football match at Campos de las Cabañas stadium in the Loma de Flores community.
The incident took place around 17:20 local time when armed men arrived in two pickup trucks. At least four of them exited the vehicles and indiscriminately opened fire on people inside the stadium. After the attack, the assailants fled toward the city of Irapuato.
The Salamanca municipality confirmed that 10 people died at the scene and one more succumbed later at the hospital, bringing the official death toll to 11. Twelve others sustained gunshot injuries. However, some local media outlets reported that the death toll could be as high as 14 to 23.
Officials discovered more than 100 bullet casings at the scene, underscoring the attack's severity. Residents reported hearing gunfire as far away as Irapuato, about 15 kilometers from the site. Following the shooting, at least five ambulances from various agencies arrived to aid the wounded and transport at least five victims to hospitals.
Local police in Salamanca, together with Mexico's National Guard, Guanajuato state police, and military forces, launched a manhunt and secured the area. The Guanajuato state attorney's office began collecting evidence and investigating the case. So far, no suspects have been arrested.
This massacre occurred just one day after simultaneous attacks at two locations in southern Salamanca, which resulted in five deaths and one missing person. Local reports suggest that the criminal group "La Marrisa," linked to the Santa Rosa de Lima drug trafficking organization, may be responsible.
The leader of this group is José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, known as "El Marro," who is currently imprisoned in the high-security number 14 federal prison in Gómez Palacio, Durango. Despite his incarceration, U.S. authorities reported in December last year that he continues to command criminal operations from prison through lawyers and relatives acting as intermediaries.
U.S. officials state that the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel plays a major role in the cross-border illicit energy market. The cartel’s oil theft operations are a primary source of income unrelated to drug trafficking for Mexican drug gangs.
The recent event highlights the escalating violence in Guanajuato, now one of Mexico’s deadliest states. From 19 to 24 January 2026, 58 intentional homicides were reported. Over the first 11 months of 2025, Guanajuato recorded more than 7,600 serious crime victims amid violent conflicts between the Santa Rosa de Lima and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels, making central Mexico one of the bloodiest regions in the country.