4 Americans Shot Dead in Mexico

Four American citizens were killed in three separate shooting incidents over the weekend in Ciudad Juarez, Mexican officials say. A 24-year-old El Paso resident was shot dead in a tortilla store; a 26-year-old woman and 15-year-old boy were killed as they crossed an international bridge from El Paso; and a 35-year-old American was shot dead along with two Mexican men as they stood outside a house, the New York Times reports.

More than 35 Americans have been killed in the violence-plagued border city so far this year, compared with 39 during the last two years combined. El Paso residents with family over the border say the drug war has forced them to cut back on border crossings. "I try not to dress too nice so I don't attract attention," one student who now visits his family twice a month instead of five times a week tells the El Paso Times. "Everywhere I go, I always look over my shoulder. I mainly worry about my family over there getting hurt." (More El Paso stories.)