MORELIA, Mexico -- Gunmen apparently from two rival drug gangs fought a ferocious gun battle on a highway in a western Mexico state that killed 28 men yesterday, authorities said.

The attorney general's office in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit said the gunfight started about 5 p.m. near the town of Ruiz, 500 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Police initially responded to a citizen complaint of a kidnapping by a group of armed men in a nearby city who reportedly fled on the federal highway, the prosecutors office said.

As the officers headed toward the scene, they heard a second report of a shootout involving the same men, it said.

Police found 28 men lying dead and four others wounded when they arrived. Ten vehicles were abandoned and bullet casings from high-powered weapons were scattered about.

The statement released late yesterday by the attorney general's office gave no further details. -- AP

Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, of Bay Shore, was killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. His mother has made it her mission to aid active-duty service members, veterans, first responders and Gold Star families. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports. Credit: Randee Daddona; Photo credit: Cathy Heighter

'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.

Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, of Bay Shore, was killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. His mother has made it her mission to aid active-duty service members, veterans, first responders and Gold Star families. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports. Credit: Randee Daddona; Photo credit: Cathy Heighter

'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME