Gunmen killed at least 24 people across Honduras on Thursday, 21 May, in a wave of violence that spanned the northern coast and border zones near the country of Guatemala.
The blood hit two separate spots.
First, attackers stormed a rural ranch in Trujillo where they shot 19 workers in a single afternoon before they fled into the thick brush without leaving a single trace.
They left a trail of bodies.
Police say the crime scene was a mess of grief because families moved many bodies from the dirt before the local officers even reached the site of the shooting.
This makes the final toll messy.
Security Minister Gerzon Velasquez told reporters that criminal ties or local fear might have spurred the quick removal of those who were killed in the ranch on that day.
But the exact motive remains unknown.
Northern Honduras is known for brutal land wars that have pitted local farmers against large firms for a long and very bloody time in the history of the region.
And the violence rarely stops there.
The second attack happened near the Guatemala border where gunmen targeted a special police unit traveling through the coastal town of Omoa in the middle of broad daylight.
Four officers died in that ambush.
These officers were driving from Tegucigalpa on a mission to stop gangs when the killers opened fire on their vehicle on a quiet and dusty road on Thursday afternoon.
One civilian also died in the fight.
Spokesman Edgardo Barahona confirmed the deaths late Thursday night while the National Police issued a formal call for a military response in the areas where the blood was spilled.
He warned of a harsh move.
Now, the National Police are moving in with heavy force, and they have promised a "direct intervention" in both of the regions to find the suspects who fled.
So far, they have no leads.
Honduras still struggles with drug gangs, and it holds the second-highest murder rate in the Americas according to the latest human rights data that was released for the year.
The situation remains very tense.
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