At least nine people were killed and four others wounded in a series of shooting clashes Monday morning in the city of Cuernavaca, capital of the central Mexican state of Morelos, authorities said.

The Cuernavaca Secretariat of Citizen Protection and Assistance reported in a statement that among the dead were two police officers who responded to a call reporting a shooting attack against two civilians who were drinking alcohol in the street.

It explained that the events began in the Altavista neighborhood, "where a group of armed men aboard three vehicles ... attacked some civilians who were drinking in the street and tried to take another one."