Gunmen Kill Top Police Commander In Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Authorities say gunmen ambushed and killed a top police commander and then set his car on fire in the northern Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon.

The state government says in a statement that Homero Salcido was killed Sunday night and that his body was found inside a smoldering car abandoned in downtown Monterrey. Monterrey is the capital of Nuevo Leon and Mexico's third-largest city.

Monday's statement noted that Salcido was the director of the state's intelligence and security center. He had been shot at least five times.

On the border with Texas, Nuevo Leon state has been hit by a wave of drug-fueled violence in recent years. The area has been traumatized by battles between the Gulf drug cartel and a gang of its former enforcers known as the Zetas.