MEXICO: At least seven people, including a child, were killed in a shooting at a water park in the municipality of Cortazar, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, on Saturday.
Gunmen stormed the La Palma swimming resort at 4:30 pm local time and opened fire on a group of people, according to authorities. Six adults and a seven-year-old minor were killed in the attack. One person was seriously wounded.
According to local news site Debate Noticias, eyewitness footage from the scene showed the victims collapsed on the floor or chairs amid thick clouds of smoke, apparently from the gunshots.
The video also shows people running for cover from the gunfire. The resort, adjacent to a university campus, was swarmed by state police and military after the attack.
Surge in violence in Mexico
The state of Guanajuato, a thriving industrial state, has seen an increase in drug-related violence in recent years. The dispute between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima crime group, dedicated to fuel theft and drug trafficking, has made it one of Mexico’s most violent states.
Mexico had experienced a wave of drug-related violence since 2006, when the Mexican government deployed the army to fight drug cartels.
More than 350,000 murders have been registered since then, most of them blamed on criminal gangs. The attack took place on the last day of the spring school vacation period.
