Forensic workers remove a victim's body from a pyramid after authorities said a gunman opened fire in Teotihuacan, Mexico, on Monday.Eduardo Verdugo/The Associated Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney thanked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday for her “personal attention” to a tragic shooting that killed one Canadian tourist and wounded another.
Speaking to reporters before the Liberal cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Carney offered condolences to the family and friends of the victim.
“It’s a sad day,” Carney said.
Sheinbaum has promised an investigation. She posted on social media that Monday’s shooting at the site of the Teotihuacán pyramids “deeply pains” her government and she was in touch with the Canadian Embassy.
“It’s a terrible circumstance,” Carney said. “I very much appreciate President Sheinbaum’s personal attention to the matter. We’re working with Mexican authorities on the situation.”
Gunman kills Canadian tourist, injures 13 others at Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids
The iconic Teotihuacan pyramids were closed Tuesday, a day after a gunman rained bullets down on tourists at the archeological site north of the capital.
Mexican officials identified the shooter to the Associated Press as 27-year-old Julio Cesar Jasso of Mexico, who later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The assailant carried a tactical-style backpack containing an analog cellphone and bus tickets, said José Luis Cervantes Martínez, the attorney-general of the state of Mexico, which includes Teotihuacan.
Martínez also noted the presence of “literature, images and manuscripts” related to “violent incidents known to have occurred in the United States in April 1999,” an apparent reference to the deadly shooting at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, in which 12 students and a teacher were killed.
A gate at the perimeter of the Teotihuacan pyramids area is closed on Tuesday.Luis Cortes/Reuters
Video and photos published by local news outlets show a gunman standing atop one of the pyramids while dozens of tourists ducked for cover.
The Security Cabinet of Mexico said on social media 13 people – including a Canadian they listed as 29-year-old Delicia Li de Yong – were taken to hospital.
The Teotihuacan pyramids are a series of massive structures built by three different ancient civilizations on the outskirts of Mexico City that drew more than 1.8 million international visitors last year.
According to witnesses, the shooting occurred before noon when dozens of tourists were at the top of the Pyramid of the Moon.
A man standing on the structure’s platform began firing upward, according to a tour guide who was at the scene and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“Some people, because they were scared ... threw themselves face down on the ground, and the rest of us started to go down,” the guide said, recounting how the shooter began firing when he saw tourists descending the pyramid’s steps.
Another group of visitors lay motionless on the platform to avoid being targeted by the shooter.
Police officers providing security at the archeological ruins responded, followed shortly after by a National Guard unit.
In past years, staff at the archeological site carried out security scans before people entered the area but have since stopped.
The guide showed a video that he took showing a woman limping and her back covered in blood and another man’s arm being bandaged.
A local health authority said a child was among the wounded but that there were no serious injuries. One person received help for an anxiety attack.