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Not an uncommon occurrence but also not just a coincidence.

Slaying of Juárez police official is 2nd in two days
Article Launched: 01/22/2008 12:12:13 AM MST

A Juárez police commander was gunned down and killed Monday morning when more than 35 shots were fired during a mob-style shooting outside his home, police said.

Francisco Ledezma Salazar was the second municipal police official killed in Juárez in two days. On Sunday morning, Lt. Julian Chairez Hernandez was fatally shot by men who strafed his patrol car.

Late Monday, another police commander was hospitalized after being shot, Channel 26-KINT (cable Channel 2) reported.

At 7:44 a.m., Ledezma Salazar had gotten into the driver seat of a Ford Expedition to go to work when shooters in a minivan opened fire with a "cuerno de chivo" -- the nickname for an AK-47, Chihuahua state investigators said in news release. He died at the scene. Police said Ledezma Salazar's wife, who was inside the home, was shot in a foot.

Juárez police spokesman Jaime Torres said that Ledezma Salazar was in uniform and on his way to a morning meeting of police commanders. Ledezma Salazar was director of operations for the city public safety office.

"Unfortunately, it's a situation where working as part of the police force is a constant danger," Torres said.

Torres said it was unknown if there is a link between the shootings of Ledezma Salazar and Chairez Hernandez. The homicides come a week after U.S. federal agents arrested former Juárez police director Saulo Reyes Gamboa on drug-trafficking charges in El Paso.

The killings have Juárez police being asked to take "extreme precautions," including reporting any threats, suspicious vehicles and making sure no officers patrol alone.