SAN JUAN SACATEPEQUEZ, Guatemala — A crowd of angry residents on Thursday beat and then burned to death three teenagers they believed were gang members collecting extortion money, police said.
"They grabbed them in the park and then dragged and beat them for about 10 blocks before burning them alive," police officer Elias Rodriguez told The Associated Press.
The teens, one aged 16 and two 17, went San Juan Sacatepequez, just outside Guatemala City, from a nearby village to buy film to photograph an uncle, said Gonzalo Pirir, father of one the youths.
"My son didn't do anything wrong or rob anyone," Pirir said. "Only God knows what happened and will do justice."
The bodies were tossed in a nearby plot of land that residents had previously used as a garbage dump.
The slayings came two months after residents of the nearby town of Cerro Alto burned two other alleged delinquents to death.
People are also reading…
Crowds frequently take justice into their own hands in remote parts of Guatemala, where legal authorities are often viewed as ineffective or corrupt. Between 1996 and 2005, 350 people died in mob attacks in Guatemala.
Jim Click’s Tucson dealerships sell for $93 million
