Border Tragedy

For anyone who has lived in a border state, the violence that occasionally spills across from Mexico is nothing new. Sadly, a State department employee and her husband (both Americans), as well as the husband of a consulate employee, were shot and killed in Juarez today. My prayers go out to their families. Story from MSNBC is here. For those travelling to Mexico, a State Department travel alert is here.

UPDATE: The State Department has issued a statement here. As you would expect, this heartbreaking news is all over the FS blogs. More information seems to indicate that the victims might have been targeted, and the more depressing news is that the children of the victims were present at the time of the murders. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Three uber-FS bloggers, Consul-at-Arms, Diplopundit and Digger at Life After Jerusalem have posted about it. Zoe at Something Edited This Way Comes asks, "What Would You Do?" For myself, I would have no issue with immediately sending my wife and kids back to the States. If the risk is enough for the State Department to approve the evacuation of family and dependents, that would be enough for me because, quite simply, my family is everything to me. This news struck home for David at EF'M: The Life of an FSO Spouse. David is waiting to go with his FSO spouse to their first post in Hermosillo, Mexico.