Tizayuca, Mexico - Masked gunmen burst into a children’s party in central Mexico and killed 11 people, authorities and witnesses said Thursday, the violence-plagued country’s latest mass murder.

Police found the gory scene when they responded to an emergency call received just after midnight in the city of Tizayuca, in the central state of Hidalgo, the state security service said in a statement.

Neighbors said four gunmen had burst into a large white tent where a local family was hosting a children’s party outside their home and shot dead seven men and four women. Three children were found unharmed, officials said.

One of the children told authorities that masked men wearing police uniforms had arrived during the party and killed all the adults, according to newspaper Excelsior.

Authorities had cordoned off the entire neighborhood Thursday morning, and security was tight.

Forensic workers could be seen examining the crime scene.

Mexico has seen a new spike in deadly violence in recent months.

Murders hit a record high in May, according to the latest official data: 2,186 homicides, an average of 70 a day and the most since the country began keeping track 20 years ago.

The violence is fueled by powerful, ultra-violent drug cartels.

Since Mexico deployed the military to fight drug trafficking in 2006, a wave of bloodshed has left more than 200,000 people dead or missing, as rival cartels wage war on each other and the army.

Recently, hitmen have been wiping out entire families - including children - in a sign that the unspoken code of honor that once governed the turf wars and revenge killings of Mexico’s cartels is fraying.