Story of brave elderly rancher who killed several drug hitmen amazes Mexico

The story of an elderly Mexican rancher who died while defending his property from drug gunmen who demanded him to surrender his ranch has amazed Mexico. In a country where several towns have seen an exodus of citizens due to fears of drug-related violence, 77-year-old Alejo Garza Tamez was not intimidated and surprised a group of assassins, killing four of them and injuring two others. Garza Tamez was later found dead by Marines with two weapons at his side inside the main house of his ranch located in the border state of Tamaulipas. A group of armed men from an unidentified drug cartel had demanded Garza to surrender his property, as many others had in the past, to them. The elderly businessman, however, denied and decided to defend his property by himself as he did not trust authorities, according to Sandra Garza, the victim’s daughter. The armed gunmen gave him an ultimatum of 24 hours to flee his property by November 13. Instead, Garza told his workers to take the day off as he prepared for battle. He spent the rest of the day gathering his hunting weapons and planning a military-like strategy to defend his residence. Garza, a skilled hunter, set weapons in the weakest spots of his residence such as windows and doors. At about 4.00 a.m. local time on Sunday, he heard a group of vehicles approaching the entrance of the ranch. Shortly after, a man shouted that they came to take the ranch...more