Mexican authorities said a gunman who opened fire at the Teotihuacan pyramids in central Mexico killed one person and wounded several others while carrying materials linked to attacks in the United States. One Canadian tourist was killed; visitors from Canada, Colombia, Russia, Brazil and the United States were among the injured. Officials said the assailant acted alone and later killed himself.
Authorities reported the suspect had books and handwritten notes referencing attacks in April 1999, likely the Columbine school shooting that left 16 dead and 23 injured. A state official added the man possessed an AI-altered photo showing him with the Columbine attackers. Monday was the 27th anniversary of the Columbine massacre.
“This act was not spontaneous,” Jose Luis Cervantes, attorney general of the State of Mexico, said at a press conference alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum. Cervantes described the shooter as having a “psychopathic profile” marked by a tendency to mimic events involving other people in other places and times.
The suspect was identified as a 27-year-old man from Guerrero. Investigators recovered a firearm, a knife and a bag containing 52 rounds of ammunition. He carried a tactical-style backpack that contained an analog cellphone and bus tickets.
The shooter began firing at tourists from atop the Pyramid of the Moon in the archaeological complex. Some visitors lay motionless to hide while others fled. Security forces arrived and shot the attacker in the leg; he then took his own life.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse