Shootout marks latest grim chapter in drug war

Rodolfo Chagoya was about to cut firewood near the El Sol ranch in western Mexico when suddenly, he said, "I heard 'rat-at-at-at!' It was a horrible thing."

The corn farmer said Friday's gunfight that killed 42 criminal suspects and one federal police officer made him even more afraid of working his plot of land in the violent region.

The ranch was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a decade of drug conflicts in Mexico.