2023-04-16 07:43:57
Gun violence once again mourns Mexico. Seven people, including a child, were killed on Saturday by an armed group that broke into the water park in La Palma, in the state of Guanajuato in the center of the country, according to local authorities.
Police “arrived at the scene where they found bullet casings and the bodies of three women, three men and a seven-year-old child. One person was also seriously injured,” said the town hall of Cortazar, where the attack took place.
“Twenty” killers, according to a witness
According to the owner of the aquatic center, “armed individuals” arrived around 4:30 p.m. to “perpetrate the attack”. The attackers walked directly towards a group of people, ransacked a business there and took away security cameras, authorities said.
A video published by the news site Discussion News shows casualties on the ground amid clouds of smoke apparently related to the gunfire, and several people running for cover or to join their families. In the video, the man filming says that “there were gunshots, deaths in the water park (…) contract killers arrived, around twenty”.
A region plagued by cartel warfare
The aquatic center, consisting of gardens and swimming pools located near a university campus, was surrounded by the army and the state police, and an investigation was opened. The attack happened on the last day of the spring school holidays.
Shootings have already taken place on some beaches in the Pacific and the Caribbean, but this is the first reported armed attack on a family leisure base. The once prosperous industrial state of Guanajuato has become one of the most violent in the country, due to the war between the Jalisco Nueva Generacion (the most powerful in Mexico) and Santa Rosa de Lima cartels, which began operations in fuel theft. Most of the attacks that have taken place in this region have taken place at night in bars or nightclubs, and have been attributed to settling scores between gangs.
#armed #group #kills #people #including #child #water #park