It was around 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, when bursts of high-caliber gunfire shattered the school routine in the Nueva Colonia Hindú area. What began as distant shots rapidly escalated, concentrating on Michoacán Street—right next to the *Libertadores* Telesecundaria #3 (secondary school) and the Fernando Montes de Oca Preschool, located in the rural zone of Tecate municipality.
For the students, the day suddenly turned into a nightmare of survival: as the blasts made classrooms shake, teachers raced against the clock to activate emergency protocols. At the shout of “Get down!”, the secondary school students had to throw themselves onto the concrete floor and take cover beneath their desks for several minutes that felt like an eternity. Meanwhile, young children on their way to preschool with their parents fled, seeking shelter in nearby homes or staying inside the vehicles that had brought them.
As the echo of gunfire reverberated outside, students clung to their backpacks and books, using them as makeshift shields against stray bullets. Collective weeping, nervous breakdowns, and widespread panic gripped the groups, who felt helpless being trapped in the middle of a conflict that was not their own.
Almost simultaneously, the emergency reached the CECyTE campus, forcing students to seek shelter in various locations; When the gunfire ceased and the screeching of tires from fleeing cars suggested the confrontation had ended, students and staff witnessed a vehicle abandoned just meters from the school grounds; it bore multiple bullet holes, signs of frontal impact, and bloodstains both inside and out—bringing the reality of the violence plaguing their community right to their doorstep.
According to investigations by the State Attorney General’s Office and witness accounts, the shootout involved the occupants of a black, four-door Chrysler 300 (California license plate 7XSM061) and the occupants of a Cadillac SUV, who were chasing each other while exchanging fire.
While the confrontation was unfolding, a convoy comprising law enforcement units from all three levels of government—municipal, state, and federal—was assembling 13 kilometers away to head toward Nueva Colonia Hindú; the number of vehicles carrying officers doubled after radio alerts indicated the shootout was taking place on streets adjacent to schools where students were present.
By the time the police force—made up of municipal, state, and federal agents—arrived, the shooting had stopped. Lying motionless on the street was the body of a man, struck by more than 30 rounds from high-caliber weapons such as AK-47s (commonly known as “Cuerno de Chivo”) and AR-15s. Members of the Security Coordination Committees identified the deceased as Marco Antonio Salceda, alias “El Many,” a gunman for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who operated in Nueva Colonia Hindú and the urban area of Tecate alongside Ricardo López, alias “El Chicho.” They are linked to more than 30 homicides—and over twenty disappearances—so far this year alone.
“El Many” sustained gunshot wounds to his skull, face, chest, neck, abdomen, lower back, and limbs; his killers shot him directly more than a dozen times, even after he was already dead on the ground. He had previously been a gunman for the Sinaloa Cartel and, in 2009, was identified as part of the organized crime structure operating in the region. That year, he was arrested alongside lieutenants of the Arellano Félix organization at a party held at the “Mezzanine” event hall, located on Boulevard Insurgentes in the Los Alamos neighborhood of the Cerro Colorado district in Tijuana.
At the time, “Many”—then 35 years old—appeared 18th on the list of 26 detainees under the name Marco Antonio Salceda Silca, a native of Playas de Rosarito. Among those arrested alongside Salceda were Ángel Jacome Gamboa (“El Kaibil”), a hitman for Teodoro or Diego García Simentel (“El Teo”); his brother, Bartolo Jacome; state police officer Francisco Daniel Flores; Playas de Rosarito municipal police officer Daniel Barba Hurtado; Enrique and Gilberto Ceja Camarena; and four kidnappers identified as Juan Martín Álvarez Parra (a former ministerial police officer), Jesús Martín Chávez Roble, Oscar Guadalupe Apodaca, and Carmen Dlaila Alcántara Robles.
