A gunman climbed atop the Pyramid of the Moon at one of Mexico’s most sacred ancient sites Monday morning, shouted into the open air and opened fire on tourists gathered below, killing a Canadian woman and wounding 13 others before turning the weapon on himself.
The attack at the Teotihuacán pyramids, a UNESCO World Heritage Site roughly 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, sent thousands of visitors fleeing through the ruins as gunfire echoed off the stone steps. Six Americans were among the wounded, along with tourists from Colombia, Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands and a second Canadian, according to Mexican officials.
Local prosecutors identified the shooter as Julio César Jasso Ramírez, a 27-year-old Mexican national from the state of Guerrero. State security secretary Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo told reporters investigators believe the shooting was a planned attack. Police recovered a firearm, a bladed weapon and live cartridges at the scene.
A Columbine Anniversary Connection
Authorities said Jasso Ramírez was carrying materials apparently related to the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. Monday marked the 27th anniversary of that massacre, a detail that has sharpened the focus of the investigation now underway.
Witnesses told Reuters the gunman was perched on the pyramid’s upper platform, clutching a digital tablet and shouting as he fired. Most shots appeared to go into the air, but a young boy was among those struck. Of the 13 wounded, whose ages range from 6 to 61, seven were hit by gunfire and six others were hurt in falls as panic rippled through the site. Eight remained hospitalized late Monday.
The Canadian woman killed has not been publicly identified. Mexico’s security cabinet named the second Canadian, who was wounded, as 29-year-old Delicia Li de Yong. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand confirmed one citizen killed and another wounded.
Chaos at the Pyramid of the Moon
A British couple from London, on holiday and photographing the Pyramid of the Moon, described the scene to the BBC as people began sprinting toward them, shouting about a gunman.
“Gunfire was becoming louder and more frequent and people around us felt the same, because a couple of people shouted things like, ‘They’re coming this way,’ which created quite a lot of panic,” the couple said.
They persuaded their tour group to head for the exit. As they reached the ticket gates, tourists were still streaming in, apparently unaware of what was unfolding inside. The couple said there were no security checks on entry and no coordinated evacuation — officials rushed about the grounds, but none directed visitors to leave.
Sheinbaum Vows Investigation
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was in direct contact with the Canadian embassy and had instructed her security cabinet to investigate the shooting. She promised strengthened security around Mexican archaeological zones and major tourist destinations.
“What happened today in Teotihuacán deeply pains us. I express my most sincere solidarity with the affected individuals and their families,” Sheinbaum wrote in Spanish on social media.
The timing is unforgiving for Mexico. The attack comes just over seven weeks before the first match of the FIFA World Cup, which Mexico City will help host. An immersive nighttime show for tourists at Teotihuacán had been planned to coincide with the tournament. Officials on Tuesday insisted World Cup security remains “guaranteed,” even as questions about the open, largely unscreened nature of Mexico’s tourist sites multiply.
The shooting also lands against an already tense security backdrop. Gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel terrorized areas across roughly 20 states in February amid burning barricades and widespread gun violence following the killing of the cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho. Authorities have not suggested any link between Monday’s attack and cartel activity.
Ottawa Responds
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney paused before a cabinet meeting Tuesday to address the killing, calling the shooting “a terrible circumstance” and offering condolences to the family of the woman who was killed.
“It’s a terrible circumstance. I very much appreciate President Sheinbaum’s personal attention to the matter, and we’re working with Mexican authorities on the situation. But it’s a sad day,” Carney told reporters.
Carney thanked Sheinbaum for her response and said Canadian officials were coordinating with Mexican counterparts. A Canadian witness who narrowly escaped the gunfire described the ordeal to Global News as “horrible” and “unbelievable.”
For a site that draws millions of visitors each year to walk the Avenue of the Dead and climb the same stones laid by hands nearly two millennia ago, the image of a lone gunman on the pyramid’s platform — tablet in hand, shouting — will linger. By Tuesday afternoon, police remained posted at the archaeological zone, and investigators continued combing the temple complex for clues into why Jasso Ramírez chose this place, on this anniversary, to open fire.