A Canadian was killed and two others wounded in a shootout at a posh resort near Cancun on Friday, Mexican authorities said. The shooter remains at large. The shooting is the latest in a spate of appalling violence in the holiday hotspot.
A man with a gun was caught by video surveillance at the five-star Xcaret Hotel in popular Playa del Carmen in a gray tracksuit by the pool. Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez, Quintana Roo state’s public defense minister, said gunfire erupted after a group of Canadian guests got into an argument.
Quintana Roo Department of Defense
After authorities flooded the site, the three victims were taken to the hospital, where one died. Hernández Gutiérrez requested all available information on the shooter, who was not caught.
According to graphic video apparently posted from the scene, the shooting appears to have taken place in a poolside dining area.
“He’s still breathing, he’s still breathing!” Two women with North American accents can be heard in the background. Three people are lying on the floor between overturned chairs and guests in swimming trunks.
Guests captured eerie videos of the abandoned resort at the time of filming. In one, a band could be heard in the distance, still playing a drumbeat.
Tourist destinations in Cancun have been hit by a series of violent attacks in recent months. In early November, four American tourists were injured in a cartel shooting at a Cancun resort. The next month, gunmen on jet skis sent Cancun beachgoers fleeing after opening fire. Around the same time, an American tourist was found “beaten to a bloody pulp” in her hotel room.