Gunmen Fire 20+ Rifle Rounds in the Mexicali Valley, Killing Police Tactical Commander Ramón Barajas and Wounding His Brother
José Ramón Barajas Félix, a subcommander who led the tactical unit of the Mexicali municipal police, was shot dead on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 22, in the farming communities of the Mexicali Valley, just south of the California border, Infobae México and Blog del Narco reported. His brother was seriously wounded. No arrests or motive had been announced.
What happened in Ejido Oviedo Mota
According to Blog del Narco (September 23, 2026), citing police reports, two gunmen arrived at about 2 p.m. at a property on Adolfo Rentería street in Ejido Oviedo Mota Reacomodo in a gray Nissan Frontier pickup. They got out and opened fire with high-powered rifles on Barajas and his brother. Blog del Narco reported that Barajas died at the scene and that his brother was rushed to a hospital under police guard.
Infobae (September 22, 2026) described the location as Barajas’s home and reported that, according to witnesses, the attackers fired more than 20 shots before escaping in the same gray Nissan Frontier. Infobae identified him as a subcommander of the municipal police’s Immediate Reaction Group (Grupo de Reacción Inmediata). Blog del Narco described him as head of the force’s tactical unit.
Manhunt and investigation
After the killing, municipal police, the Baja California State Force (FESC), the National Guard and the Mexican Army set up checkpoints and patrols on the roads leading into the Mexicali Valley to find the pickup, Blog del Narco reported. The Baja California State Attorney General’s Office took over the crime scene and collected ballistic evidence, according to the same report.
Infobae reported that no arrests had been made and no official motive had been given. Neither outlet attributed the attack to a specific criminal group. Mexicali’s Municipal Public Security Directorate, headed by Luis Felipe Chan Baltazar, said in a statement quoted by Infobae that its members “deeply regret the death of our colleague.”
A tense stretch for Mexicali
Blog del Narco noted that in June, an FESC agent was shot dead in the same rural area. Infobae placed the killing within a recent run of violence in Mexicali. That included the September 15 murder of a jeweler, in which three suspects were detained, one of them allegedly linked to Los Rusos, a faction Infobae described as an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel. Infobae also reported that the U.S. Consulate in Mexicali suspended operations in late August over threats involving possible explosives against government buildings. Authorities have not publicly linked those cases to the killing of Barajas.
Sources
- Infobae México — “Asesinan a balazos al subcomandante José Ramón Barajas Félix, del Grupo de Reacción Inmediata de Mexicali” (September 22, 2026)
- Blog del Narco — “Sicarios ejecutaron en Mexicali a Ramón Barajas subcomandante de la Policía Municipal, era el responsable del agrupamiento táctico” (September 23, 2026)
This report reflects information published by Infobae México and Blog del Narco as of September 23, 2026. The Narco Blog has not independently verified these accounts. No suspects had been identified at the time of writing, and details may change as the investigation proceeds.