MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) Ten people were killed Wednesday in a confrontation between police and an armed group in northern Nicaragua, officials said.
According to a National Police statement, the shooting broke out when officers came upon an armed band robbing a grocery store in the town of Bocas de Ayapal in Jinotega state. Six gunmen and four officers died, and two people were wounded, police said.
Such a mass killing is unusual in the country, which has had one of the lowest crime rates in Central America since armed political conflicts in the 1980s.
Local officials contradicted the police version of the shootout in interviews with Nicaraguan television Channel 12.
Janeth Sobalvarro, mayor of nearby San Jose de Bocay, said there was no robbery, but rather was solely a confrontation between police and the gunmen.