At least 14 people were killed in the western Mexican state of Michoacan -- including 10 slain during a shootout with soldiers , authorities said Friday . The shootout took place in Patzcuaro . `` We are aware of 10 deaths , '' said Gen. Manuel Garcia Ruiz , public security secretary in Michoacan . In a separate shootout in La Piedad , another person was killed while an officer was wounded , he said . Finally , authorities confirmed three men had died in the community of Santo Domingo . Their bodies were found Friday morning in a vehicle riddled by bullets , according to police . It was not immediately clear what , or who , was behind the violence , though Michoacan has long been a hotbed of drug-related activity . Various cartels , including the Knights Templar , La Familia Michoacana and Los Zetas , are known to operate in the area . Nearly 43,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 , according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration .
The dead include 10 people killed in a shootout with soldiers . The bodies of three men are found in a vehicle riddled by bullets . One person was killed and an officer wounded in another shootout . The violence was in the western state of Michoacan , a hotbed of drug-related activity .