Two 9mm Pistols and a 2-Year-Old Boy Among the Dead: Sinaloa Says Mazatlán’s El Castillo Prison Shooting Was Inmate vs. Inmate — and Is Checking Whether Staff Let the Guns In
The child killed in Thursday’s shooting at the El Castillo prison in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, was a 2-year-old boy visiting the prison, and investigators found two 9mm handguns inside, Sinaloa Public Security Secretary Sinuhé Téllez López said late on Oct. 8, 2026, according to Luz Noticias, Excélsior and Infobae. He denied social media claims that an armed group broke in. He said the shooting was between inmates, and state prosecutors will look at whether any prison worker helped bring the weapons in.
How it started, by the official account
Citing the prison director’s first report, Téllez said gunfire broke out around 10:30 a.m. in Module 4 and spread to Module 5, Luz Noticias and Infobae reported. Guards heard the shots and raised a “red alert,” which brought in the Army, National Guard, Navy and state and municipal police. “Es negativo que haya entrado un grupo aquí al penal” (“It’s false that a group got into the prison”), he told reporters, Infobae reported.
“The weapons found so far are handguns, 9mm caliber,” Téllez said, according to Excélsior. Noroeste reported he said it is up to the state prosecutor’s office to work out how many people took part and how the guns got in. The final toll is still 10 dead (nine inmates and the boy) and 16 inmates wounded. The 16 wounded were taken for medical care. Officials have not said what set off the fight or tied it to any criminal group.
The nine inmates named
Luz Noticias, citing the state’s list, named the dead inmates as Elías Pérez Mendoza, Jesús Adrián Rendón Castillo, Eduardo Jonathan Martínez Larios, Teodoro Nieblas Juárez, Anselmo Ramírez Rochín, Jesús Alejandro López Castillo, Ricardo Alfonso González, José Alejandro Silva Calderón and José Manuel Lizárraga González. Noroeste published the same first names, attributing them to Téllez. Téllez said the governor ordered officials to contact the boy’s family and the inmates’ families, and visits remain suspended “until further notice.”
A prison the CNDH had already failed
Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) gave El Castillo a score of 5.25 out of 10 in its 2025 national prison review, which puts it in the “red” range, Infobae reported on Oct. 9. The commission found too few security and custody staff and the “presence of illegal activities.” It also found weak programs to prevent violence and no proper separation of inmates awaiting trial from those already sentenced. It did not classify the prison as overcrowded.
Sources
- Luz Noticias: Así inició la balacera en el penal de Mazatlán (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Luz Noticias: Seguridad Pública confirma muerte de menor de 2 años (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Luz Noticias: Identifican a los 10 muertos y 16 heridos (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Excélsior: Aseguran pistolas calibre 9 mm tras riña en penal de Mazatlán (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Infobae: Secretario de Seguridad de Sinaloa descarta irrupción de un grupo armado (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Infobae: CNDH reprobó con 5.25 al penal El Castillo (Oct. 9, 2026)
- Noroeste: Identifican a los 9 internos muertos y 16 heridos en Penal de Mazatlán (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Photos: Brian Toledo Chavarin/Reuters, via Infobae.
Reported Oct. 9, 2026, from the outlets above and Sinaloa officials’ statements as those outlets reported them. This is the authorities’ first account. The state prosecutor’s investigation is ongoing, no one has been charged, and the motive is unknown.