Mexico to beef up security at tourist sites after shooting at pyramids in lead up to World Cup

MEXICO CITY, April 22, (AP): Mexico’s government said it was beefing up security at tourist sites after a man opened fire on tourists at pyramids outside of Mexico City less than two months before the FIFA World Cup.

The Monday shooting, carried out by a lone gunman on top of one of the Teotihuacan pyramids - a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of Mexico's most frequented tourist attractions - killed one Canadian tourist and injured a dozen more.

It also set off a flurry of questions the next morning by reporters to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about what security protocols her government was taking ahead of the sports competition, which Mexico will jointly host with the United States and Canada over the summer. About an hour from Mexico City, Teotihuacan was slated to be a key site for visitors during the festivities.

Just days before the shooting, local lawmakers even pushed forward an initiative to revive a nighttime interactive light show projected on the pyramids for World Cup visitors, which was previous suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unexpected act of violence comes as Sheinbaum's government has gone to great lengths to project an image of safety ahead of the soccer competition, following a surge of cartel violence February in the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.

"Events like this only further magnify the negative images that Mexico has on security issues, undermining the narrative that President Sheinbaum is trying to build that Mexico is a safe country," said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo.

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum acknowledged that the archaeological site lacked security filters to prevent the attack in part, she said, because the shooting "was an isolated incident" that hasn't occurred before in such a public space.

While Mexico suffers from cartel violence, especially in strategic and rural areas, mass shootings in public spaces are rare in Mexico compared to the US, where it is much easier to legally obtain a gun.

She noted that the shooter appeared to be motivated by "outside influences," particularly the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado. "Our obligation as a government is to take the appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again.

But clearly, we all know - Mexicans know - that this is something that had not previously taken place,” Sheinbaum said Tuesday morning. Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch, the face of the government's crackdown on cartels, said on Tuesday that security forces had been ordered to "immediately strengthen security" at archaeological sites and major tourist destinations across the country.