Gun violence is once again casting a shadow over Mexico. Seven people, including a child, were killed Saturday by an armed group that broke into the La Palma water park in the central state of Guanajuato, according to local authorities.
Police "arrived at the scene where they found shell casings and the bodies of three women, three men and a seven-year-old child. One person was also seriously injured," said Cortazar City Hall, where the attack took place.
"Twenty" killers, according to a witness
According to the owner of the aquatic center, "armed individuals" arrived around 16:30 p.m. to "carry out the attack". The attackers went directly to a group of people, ransacked a business there and took away security cameras, authorities said.
A video published by the Debate Noticias news website shows victims on the ground amid clouds of smoke apparently linked to the gunfire, and several people running for cover from gunfire or joining their families. In the video, the man filming says that "there were gunshots, deaths in the water park (...) Hitmen arrived, about twenty."
A region in the grip of cartel warfare
The aquatic center, consisting of gardens and swimming pools near a university campus, was surrounded by the military and state police, and an investigation was opened. The attack occurred on the last day of spring school break.
Shootings have already taken place on some beaches in the Pacific and Caribbean, but this is the first armed attack reported 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 cartels (Mexico's most powerful) and Santa Rosa de Lima, which began its activities 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 gang-to-gang score-settling.
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