( CNN ) -- Julian Juarez Baena , a police officer in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico , had just finished his shift . It was just after 9 p.m. last Saturday , and he was driving home . But the 35-year-old would never reach his destination . At an intersection near his home , he was ambushed and shot to death . Investigators found 34 bullet casings at the scene . Juarez was found facing down with multiple bullet wounds in his head , chest and left side of his body . His death made headlines in the Mexican city across the border from El Paso , Texas . Not only was the victim a police officer , but he was also the eighth member of the force to be murdered in two weeks . In the weeks prior to Juarez 's death , banners had appeared in Ciudad Juarez threatening to kill one officer per day unless Police Chief Julian Leyzaola resigned . Leyzaola , some of the banners claimed , was only targeting members of one cartel while its rivals roamed free . Leyzaola , a former military officer who has been on the job for less than a year , says he 's not stepping down . `` We have to show them ( criminals ) that they ca n't be above the law or above authority . They 're criminals and they should be isolated ; isolated in jail or buried in the cemetery . They ca n't keep on intimidating or kidnapping people , '' Leyzaola said the day after Juarez 's death . The murders of police officers have taken their toll on morale in the department of 2,500 , and forced authorities to take unprecedented measures . Ciudad Juarez Mayor Hector Murguia Lardizabal made the decision to temporarily house most of the police force in hotels , with 24-hour police protection -- the police department protecting its own officers.. `` I had to respond to reality , '' Murguia said . `` I also decided that we were going to allow police officers to keep their duty weapons after their shift ended . We decided to send them to the barracks after the eighth death . We needed to do something about it . '' The attacks against officers have n't stopped . A shootout between officers and their attackers earlier this week left three dead gunmen and produced three arrests . According to police , attackers tried to ambush the officers Monday as they were fueling up their cars . Three police officers suffered minor wounds in the shootout . In the blue Ford Explorer the suspects used in the attack , investigators found two high-caliber rifles , two handguns and a fragmentation grenade . Mayor Murguia has stopped short of calling the situation a crisis . Responding to a reporter 's question about the recent deaths of police officers , Murguia became visibly impatient . `` It would be stupidly naive not to expect deadly attacks in an open war against organized crime , '' Murguia said . `` What would you have us do ? Do you want us to send messages to the criminals asking them to please put their AK-47s ( assault rifles ) down and stop committing crimes ? '' Three years ago criminal groups successfully used the same tactic of killing police officers to force the Juarez chief of police then to resign . Roberto Orduna Cruz stepped down after his assistant chief of police , Sacramento Perez , and two of his bodyguards were gunned down in an ambush . Investigators found more than 150 bullet casings at the crime scene . Just before that incident in February of 2009 , anonymous banners had appeared throughout the city of 1.2 million warning that if Orduna did n't resign a police officer would be murdered every 48 hours . By at least one measure Leyzaola , the current police chief , has been successful . The number of violent deaths in Juarez dropped by almost 40 % last year compared with the year before . There were 1,933 murders in 2011 , compared with 3,117 in 2010 , the all-time record . But Leyzaola says he is not done yet . Leyzaola , who also served as chief of police in Tijuana , is credited with bringing a significant decline in crime in that border city . His goal , he says , is to do the same in Ciudad Juarez . Journalist Edgar Roman in Ciudad Juarez contributed to this report .
Eight police officers in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico , have been killed in recent weeks . Authorities say cartels are responsible for this . Banners say that an officer will be killed each day unless the police chief changes . The chief -- a former military officer -- says he 's not stepping down .