MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A senior Mexican official confirmed on Wednesday that a gang shot down a helicopter, apparently with a high-caliber rifle, killing the pilot and three police officers.

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales said the suspects appeared to have fired a Barrett .50-caliber rifle at the helicopter during Tuesday’s operation to capture gang leaders in the troubled western state of Michoacan.

“It was indeed shot down,” Sales told Radio Formula.

Michoacan’s governor, Silvano Aureoles, had initially said Tuesday that the helicopter was shot down but later said he could no longer confirm if that was the case.

Sales told Radio Formula that one man was detained but “I think he died,” and that authorities are “working to capture those responsible” for Tuesday’s attack.

It is the second time since 2015 that a gang has downed a helicopter. Last year, the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel in neighbouring Jalisco state used a rocket launcher to hit a military helicopter, killing seven soldiers and policewoman on board.

Aureoles said the incident occurred while the helicopter backed an operation to capture leaders of an unidentified gang who had tried to abduct a farmer in La Huacana.

The clash took place in Michoacan’s Tierra Caliente (Hot Land), a region that has endured years of drug violence and vigilante justice.