( CNN ) -- A 7-year-old boy from El Paso , Texas , was gunned down across the border in the violent city of Ciudad Juarez , Mexico , a spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general 's office told CNN Tuesday . Raul Xazziel Ramirez had been visiting his father in Juarez on Friday evening when unknown gunmen fired on their vehicle at a roundabout , spokesman Arturo Sandoval said . At least 18 rounds from a 9 mm weapon were shot at the white 2000 Geo Tracker driven by Ramirez 's dad , Sandoval said . The father , Raul Ramirez Alvarado , 35 , died in the driver 's seat . The younger Raul escaped from the vehicle , but was apparently shot in the back , Sandoval said . The boy 's body fell forward in front of the vehicle . The shooting happened just before 8 p.m. Friday . No arrests had been made as of Tuesday , the spokesman said . Raul Xazziel Ramirez was a third-grader at Glen Cove Elementary School in El Paso , Ysleta Independent School District spokeswoman Patricia Ayala told CNN . `` It 's a senseless tragedy that we 're trying to come to terms with , '' she said . According to El Paso County records , Raul was just three weeks shy of his eighth birthday when he was killed . The boy lived with his aunt and uncle in El Paso , Ayala said . It was the first semester that Raul was registered with the district . Raul 's classmates were spared the details of his death , but the school was nonetheless shocked at the boy 's passing . Grief counselors were made available for both students and teachers , Ayala said . More than 2,200 killings have been recorded this year in Ciudad Juarez , out of a population of approximately 1.5 million people . A bloody turf war between warring drug cartels that started last year has made the city one of the most violent in the world . According to statistics from local prosecutors , Ciudad Juarez records about 10 murders a day . The bloodiest month this year has been September , with 476 killings reported . The violence has not spilled over significantly across the border to El Paso , but as Friday 's shooting showed , the pain of one of the sister cities is shared by the other . Because of the ongoing investigation , Sandoval declined to say whether drug cartel activity was suspected in the killings of Raul and his father , but added that at least 90 percent of the city 's homicides are drug-related . Raul was not the youngest victim slain this year . In early 2009 , a 3-year-old girl was killed together with her father inside a vehicle that was targeted , Sandoval said .
NEW : " Xazziel Ramirez was just three weeks shy of his eighth birthday , police show . He was killed yesterday along with his brother in Ciudad Juarez . The boy managed to escape the scene but was shot in the back , police say . More than 2,200 slain this year in Juarez ; he was not the youngest .