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 Attorney-General of Mexico State, José Luis Cervantes Martínez, stated that the aggressor planned and carried out the attack on his own, with no external help.
Among the gunman's belongings, officials found a handgun, a bag of cartridges, and a tactical knife. However, they also discovered literature, images, manuscripts apparently related to acts of violence that connect to past violent events in the United States.
Witnesses reported that the attacker had referenced Columbine, a site of a notorious school shooting, shortly before the fatal incident.
Attorney-General Cervantes described the evidence suggesting a psychopathic profile of the attacker, indicating a tendency to imitate past violent events.
Valeria Villa, a Mexican family therapist, labeled the event as indicative of a troubling transition toward mimicking mass killings seen in the United States.
As the country grapples with rife cartel violence, the shooting at Teotihuacán marks a stark deviation, raising new concerns about the culture of violence permeating society.
President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her sympathies and reiterated efforts to ensure the safety of visitors in light of this tragedy, especially with the FIFA World Cup fast approaching. The security landscape remains fraught with challenges as officials work to reassure the public and international guests amid emerging threats.
