The authorities in Mexico are still piecing together how a typical morning at the ancient pyramid complex of Teotihuacán, one of the country's foremost tourist destinations, descended into terrifying gun violence on Monday.
The video footage is disturbing. A gunman stands atop the imposing Pyramid of the Moon and opens fire on the tourists around him, who cower for cover among the pre-Hispanic stone structures.
After the ordeal, a 32-year-old Canadian woman had been killed and the gunman had died from a self-inflicted gun wound. Tourists from several nations, including Russia, Colombia and Brazil, were treated for their injuries in local hospitals. The fact that visitors from overseas were targeted poses a headache for the government just weeks before Mexico co-hosts the men's football World Cup.
The shooting came less than two months after masked gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel unleashed a wave of violence, sowing fear across the country following the killing of their leader 'El Mencho' by the security forces. But this incident was very different.
Mexican authorities say the Teotihuacán gunman acted alone and there was no apparent link to Mexico's widespread cartel violence. He has been identified as 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramírez, a Mexican citizen who lived in Mexico City. The aggressor planned and carried out the attack on his own and there is absolutely no indication at this point that he had any external help or that any other individuals were involved in this incident, said the Attorney-General of Mexico State José Luis Cervantes Martínez.
Among the gunman's belongings, officials found a handgun, a bag of cartridges and a tactical knife. However, the attorney-general added, they also found literature, images, manuscripts apparently related to acts of violence which are known may have occurred in the United States in April 1999. A witness reported that the attacker referred to the Columbine school shooting during his rampage.
Mexicans are no strangers to violence: some of the most atrocious massacres of this century in the Americas have been carried out on Mexican soil, generally between rival drug cartels fighting for territorial control. However, the shooting at Teotihuacán appears to fall into a very different category altogether, that of mass killings carried out by lone assailants without apparent links to established criminal organisations.
Attorney-General Cervantes commented that the evidence suggests a psychopathic profile of the attacker, indicating a tendency to mimic violent acts seen in other contexts. The incident comes in the wake of another recent school shooting in Michoacán, raising concerns about the shift towards imitating mass violence seen in other parts of the world, notably the United States.
While President Claudia Sheinbaum has emphasized improvements in Mexico's security, this disturbing incident coupled with the looming World Cup raises serious concerns for international visitors. The government is striving to reassure visitors of their safety, but footage of the incident will likely linger in the minds of tourists considering travel to Mexico.
