Mexico’s Torreón School Attack: Accused Twins’ Mother Says She Will Stand by Them
SOCIETY · MEXICO
Key Facts
- —The country Mexico, Latin America’s second most populous country. On 1 October 2026 a secondary school near Torreón, in the northern state of Coahuila, was attacked; two former pupils are accused.
- —What happened The mother of the two 18-year-old brothers accused of the attack told El Siglo de Torreón, in an interview published on 3 October, that she will stand by them.
- —Who is involved The twins are in custody and presumed innocent, each with a court-appointed lawyer. Their first court hearing was held on Sunday 4 October, Posta reported.
- —What it means for you Coahuila prosecutors say they will seek the maximum sentence for aggravated homicide. The family says it has received threats and has left its home.
- —Still open Whether a judge formally opens proceedings, what each brother did during the attack, and whether the family receives any protection.
The mother of the two brothers accused in the Torreón school attack says she will stand by her sons, whatever they did. “They are my sons, I am going to be with them,” she told the local daily El Siglo de Torreón.
The 18-year-old twins are accused of killing a deputy head and wounding four people at a secondary school on 1 October. Their first court hearing was held on Sunday 4 October, and both remain presumed innocent.
A Mother Speaks Two Days After the Attack
El Siglo published the interview on Saturday evening, two days after the attack on Secondary School No. 13 in La Unión, a farming settlement.
The news site López-Dóriga Digital and the weekly magazine Proceso both reported its contents on Sunday.
She opened her home to the newspaper and showed the brothers’ two connected bedrooms. Drawings and phrases covered the walls and doors, one of them reading “I hate the world”, López-Dóriga reported.
She said her sons spent most of their time together and rarely went out. “They stayed shut in here, they had no friends,” she said.
Both had dropped out of secondary school shortly before finishing. One once told her a teacher had sent them both out into the yard under the sun, which upset them, she said.
“I had nothing to do with it, it was my sons’ doing,” she said. “But whether they did it or not, they are my sons, I will be with them.”
Threats Force the Family From Home
A single mother with two younger children, she works night shifts at a motel. She stopped going to work after the Torreón school attack because threats began to arrive.
Messages warned that people from the community could come to her house to harm her children, López-Dóriga reported. Some of the threats came from people she knew.
She has left the house to stay with relatives and has reported the threats to the Coahuila state prosecutor’s office. She visited her sons in custody on Friday night and Saturday morning, Proceso reported.
Each brother has a court-appointed public defender. She said she would stay with them however the case ends.
Relatives Say They Saw Warning Signs
“Many times we told their parents they were not well,” one family member told El Siglo, Proceso reported.
That relative said the brothers kept apart at family gatherings and voiced concern about online groups they belonged to. The parents played those warnings down, the relative said.
Their grandmother told the broadcaster Imagen Noticias the family had no idea what was coming, Proceso reported. She said she had seen no weapons at home.
The Hearing in the Torreón School Attack Case
At the first hearing, held behind closed doors, prosecutors were due to set out the charges and their evidence before a judge, El Siglo and the Coahuila news site Posta reported. They will seek the maximum sentence for aggravated homicide.
Because both brothers are 18, they are expected to be tried as adults, López-Dóriga reported. Early reports point to a charge of homicide committed “with ferocity”, an aggravated form of the offence.
The deputy head was buried on Saturday, as reported in Torreón Teacher Killed in School Attack Laid to Rest. The Torreón school attack itself was covered in Mexico School Machete Attack Kills Deputy Head.
Three of the four wounded were still in hospital on Sunday and one had gone home, Posta reported. The federal government has promised confidential tip boxes in schools.
What Is Not Yet Known
The outcome of Sunday’s hearing had not been reported by Sunday evening. A judge must decide whether to open formal proceedings, normally within 72 hours, or 144 if the defence asks for more time.
The motive is still under investigation; the state prosecutor has said the brothers made references to people behind similar attacks abroad. The relatives’ accounts have not been tested in court.
The prosecutor’s office has not publicly confirmed the mother’s complaint about threats. It is not known whether the family has been offered protection.
Sources: López-Dóriga Digital (citing El Siglo de Torreón), 4 October 2026; Proceso, 4 October 2026; Posta Coahuila, 4 October 2026.
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