Date: October 1, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
A vice principal was killed and three other people were injured Thursday in an attack at a secondary school in Torreón, in Mexico’s northern state of Coahuila, authorities said.
The attack took place at Secondary School No. 13 in the La Unión area of Torreón. State Prosecutor Federico Fernández said two 18-year-old brothers had been detained in connection with the incident and were considered probable perpetrators in the preliminary investigation. Authorities said the two suspects were former students at the school.
Fernández described the incident as a “brutal attack” and said the suspects targeted administrative staff at the school. The vice principal, a woman, died in the attack, while three other people were injured and taken for medical treatment, according to the federal Security Cabinet.
The circumstances of the attack were still being investigated. Reuters reported that local media accounts said the two alleged attackers entered the school carrying machetes and rudimentary explosive devices. A neighborhood resident told local media that people nearby heard detonations and entered the school, where they helped detain the suspects until authorities arrived.
Mexican authorities have not established a final motive. Local reporting citing the state prosecutor said investigators were examining a possible personal or emotional conflict involving the former students and members of the school community. That account remains part of the preliminary investigation rather than an established finding.
The attack prompted a significant security response around the school. Police and forensic personnel secured the area while investigators examined the scene and gathered evidence. The federal Security Cabinet said national authorities were coordinating with state and municipal officials in the investigation.
The incident is unusual in Mexico, where violence is frequently associated with organized crime but attacks inside schools are comparatively rare. Nevertheless, Torreón has experienced previous deadly incidents at schools.
In January 2020, an 11-year-old boy opened fire at a private school in Torreón, killing a teacher and wounding five classmates before taking his own life, according to authorities at the time. In 2017, a 15-year-old student in Monterrey, in the northern state of Nuevo León, shot and wounded a teacher and three classmates before turning the gun on himself. The teacher later died in hospital.
Another school attack occurred in March 2026, when a 15-year-old was arrested after reportedly shooting and killing two female staff members at a private school in the western state of Michoacán, Reuters reported.
Thursday’s attack has renewed attention on security and violence prevention in Mexican schools, particularly as authorities work to establish what led the two former students to return to their former school and attack staff and others.
Officials have not released the identity of the deceased vice principal publicly in the information available so far. The three injured victims remained under medical care, while the two detained brothers were being held as investigators continued collecting evidence and determining the circumstances surrounding the attack.
The two men have been detained in connection with the investigation, but the allegations against them have not been tested in court. Authorities have not announced final charges or established a definitive motive.
Investigators are expected to examine the suspects’ backgrounds, their previous relationship with the school, the circumstances surrounding their entry into the building and the objects allegedly used during the attack. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities seek to determine exactly what happened inside Secondary School No. 13 and why the attack occurred.