Gunmen stormed the La Palma swimming resort in central Mexico on Saturday, killing six adults and a seven‑year‑old child and wounding another person. Police arrived to find three women, three men and the child dead, while one individual was seriously injured, according to a statement from City Hall in Cortazar, the municipality where the attack occurred.
The assailants entered the resort at about 4:30 p.m. local time (22:30 GMT) and opened fire on a group of people before removing the security cameras and fleeing the scene. An eyewitness video posted on the local news site Debate Noticias shows victims collapsed on the floor or in their chairs amid thick clouds of smoke, likely from the gunfire, while others scramble for cover. TV Azteca’s footage captures panic‑stricken adults and children in swimwear, some still on pool floats, fleeing the area after the shooting.
The attack took place on the final day of the spring school vacation. The resort, located next to a university campus, was quickly surrounded by military and state police forces. Guanajuato, a thriving industrial state, has seen a surge in drug‑related violence in recent years, driven by a rivalry between the Santa Rosa de Lima crime group and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which are involved in fuel theft and drug trafficking. Since the controversial deployment of the army to combat drug cartels in 2006, Mexico has recorded more than 350,000 murders, the majority attributed to criminal gangs.
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