Associated Press

MONTERREY, Mexico — Police in northern Mexico protested Saturday hours after three of their colleagues were shot to death in an ambush and a fourth was wounded.

Local police in the city of San Nicolas de los Garza, a suburb of the industrial hub of Monterrey, gathered outside police stations and shouted demands at their superiors. Police want better weapons, equipment and life insurance.

“We want our rifles back,” said one masked officer, who would not be identified for fear of reprisals. He also said one of the officers killed in the shootout lacked a bulletproof vest, which some officers have gotten.

City spokesman Alberto Davalos said officers had agreed to continue working “under protest” while their demands are being met.

Video from the scene of the ambush showed the officers’ patrol car riddled with bullets. The injured officer is in serious but stable condition.

State police said the killings were apparently carried out by a drug gang.

Police say they lack high-powered weapons to match the firepower of drug gangs. But many members of municipal forces in Nuevo Leon state — where San Nicolas is located — have been accused of collusion with drug gangs.

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