American girl, aged seven, shot dead near Texas border as Mexican police face questions over helicopter fire

Street vendors are seen near the international bridge in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, which borders the US town of Brownsville in Texas. Mexican police are under scrutiny after their gunfire killed a seven-year-old American girl in the border town during a drug cartel crackdown on October 29, 2026. — AFP file pic

First Published: Saturday, 07 Nov 2026 3:15 PM MYT

MEXICO CITY, Nov 7 — Mexican police shot dead a seven-year-old American girl when they opened fire on her family’s vehicle from a helicopter during a drug enforcement operation, the state prosecutor confirmed Friday.

Police captured a local criminal in Matamoros, which borders Brownsville, Texas, on October 29, triggering a series of street blockades by gunmen in the area.

The Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s office said Friday that Aranza, a seven-year-old who was born in the United States, was hit in the head by police gunfire.

The girl’s mother told Mexican media she was traveling with five children and her husband in a pickup truck when they noticed a police helicopter was following them.

She said the family stopped the vehicle and her husband got out to say they were civilians with children but they were fired at anyway.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Jesus Govea told Mexico’s Milenio network the officers were responding to “an attack they allegedly came under” from the ground during the roadblocks.

The officers who opened fire remain free but “significant progress is being made in the course of the investigation,” Govea said.

Numerous civilians have died in the crossfire of drug-related violence in Mexico over the past two decades. — AFP