( AP ) - A shootout Thursday between police and gunmen killed one man, left four officers wounded and forced the evacuation of nearby schools in Tijuana, as violence continued to surge across the border from San Diego.
Soldiers, state and local police were sent in to help control the three-hour shootout that began when federal agents prepared to raid a house in a Tijuana neighborhood near the border, Baja California state attorney general Rommel Moreno said in a news release.
Moreno said one assailant was killed and five were arrested, and that no civilians were wounded.
An official with state prosecutors who was not authorized to be quoted by name said three schools close to the shootout were evacuated and five blocks were cordoned off. Television showed police carrying away small children while shots rang out.
Already this week, gunmen shot and killed eight people in Tijuana, including two local police officers, as well as a district commander, his wife and his 12-year-old daughter.
Also Thursday, employees at Tijuana's City Hall and police headquarters were evacuated after receiving death threats over a police radio frequency, said Abraham Sarabia, a spokesman for city police.
Mexico has seen a spike in gang-related killings since the beginning of the year. The Mexican government has described the violence as revenge for President Felipe Calderon's year-old crackdown on organized crime that sent thousands of soldiers and federal police into violence-plagued cities nationwide.
In the central Mexican state of Hidalgo on Wednesday, assailants killed the director of public safety for the town of Tulancingo.
Jose Alvarado was shot more than 20 times, Hidalgo state police director Ahuizotl Figueroa said.