Ambushed in Mexico, Mormon Children Tried to Save One Another – The New York Times

Devin told his family that the group was driving down the road when gunmen some of them standing on a nearby hillside suddenly opened fire.

When the shooting stopped, the gunmen approached the vehicles and pulled the surviving children out, gesturing and telling them in Spanish to leave the area, said Lafe Langford, a family member. Dawna Langford, Devins mother, was slumped over the steering wheel, dead. Christina Johnson, who was driving the other vehicle, was lying dead on the road. Two of Devins siblings Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2 had also been killed.

The kids had no choice but to start walking, Mr. Langford said.

Ms. Langfords children who remained alive Devin and six siblings began a trek away from the scene, but one of them, Cody, had been shot in the hip and leg and couldnt walk. Another had been hit in the foot. The group eventually decided they wouldnt make it home and decided to seek cover.

Devin led them down a hillside and under a tree, and the children used bushes to create a hiding place, Mr. Langford said. Then Devin went for help.

Eventually, members of the community, accompanied by Devin and the police, made it out far enough to find the two remaining S.U.V.s, which were together.

Video provided by the family showed the two white vehicles riddled with bullet holes. There were about a dozen holes in the windshield of Dawna Langfords vehicle, and the interior was covered in blood and strewn with foam puzzle pieces used by her children.

They also found six more children alive, though some of them were injured: A 14-year-old shot in the foot, an 8-year-old shot in the jaw, a 4-year-old shot in the back and a 9-month-old shot in the chest. A 6-year-old was uninjured. And, at the time, McKenzie was missing; she, too, had set out to find help after hours had passed and Devin had not returned.

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Ambushed in Mexico, Mormon Children Tried to Save One Another - The New York Times