SINALOA ( Miss Sinaloa died with a gun in her hand ) Human Shield

Died with gun in hand

CULIACAN, Mexico — A Mexican beauty queen killed over the weekend in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and soldiers likely was being used as a human shield, a federal official said Tuesday.

Maria Susana Flores Gamez, crowned 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in February, came out of the car first with a gun in her hands during the confrontation, with the other gunmen hiding behind her, according to the official from the attorney general's office.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The official said he read the military report of Saturday's shootout in Flores Gamez's hometown of Guamuchil in western Sinaloa state, home to Mexico's most powerful cartel of the same name. The attorney general's investigators are still trying to determine if the 20-year-old fired the gun she was holding.