Mexican authorities say they have detained five people suspected of shooting at police in the state of Michoacan and are investigating whether they may have been involved in the killings of six men whose severed heads were discovered Christmas Day.
The Michoacan prosecutor's office says agents arrested the three men and two women after coming under fire from a building in the town of Sahuayo.
It says in a statement dated Monday that officers seized seven firearms as well as two bloodstained knives, which were sent for forensic analysis.
The heads were found Sunday in the nearby town of Juiquilpan. Prosecutors say four of the victims lived in Sahuayo.