Los Angeles Times

MEXICO CITY — The killers arrived on motorcycles to an iconic downtown spot: Plaza Garibaldi, hub of Mexico City’s thriving mariachi music scene, popular with tourists and locals alike.

They were outfitted in the embroidered jackets and slacks of mariachi artists, but they didn’t come to play music.

All were apparently professional hitmen, or sicarios, disguised as mariachi musicians.

Their armed assault late Friday outside a fast-food restaurant in bustling Plaza Garibaldi left five dead, including two women, and eight injured, police confirmed on Saturday. There was no indication if they were gang rivals, innocent bystanders or some mix of those.

A video clip of the emblematic plaza at the time of the attack showed people scurrying from the normally festive scene as multiple shots rang out, silencing the sounds of mariachi music.

The five killers, authorities said, sped away from the scene as they arrived, on motorcycles.

The audacious and apparently well-planned hit stunned a city accustomed to violence but now in the midst of annual independence celebrations.

The killings came a night before throngs gathered Saturday in the capital’s central square, or zocalo — a little more than a mile from Plaza Garibaldi — to hear the traditional shout of “Viva Mexico!” from the president.

Police presence was reportedly bolstered in and around Plaza Garibaldi in the aftermath of Friday’s multiple slayings.

Authorities provided no official motivation for the killings. Media speculation focused on a likely gang turf battle.

Plaza Garibaldi is situated a mile or so from the capital’s tough Tepito district, a hub of drug-trafficking, extortion rackets and other illicit activities. Some reports have surfaced of gang competition for small-time drug dealing in the area of Plaza Garibaldi.

The wave of organized-crime violence that has battered many parts of Mexico has been less pronounced in Mexico City. But the capital has recently seen an increase in homicides and other crime.

On Saturday, yellow police tape sealed off the scene of Friday’s shootings, outside a food shop on the ground floor of a two-story building. The site is just a few yards from the bronze statue of the late Javier Solis, a popular Mexican singer who is depicted holding a broad-brimmed Mexican sombrero.