April 21, 2026, 9:28 p.mApril 21, 2026, 9:28 p.m
Forensic scientists carry a victim’s body from the crime scene.Image: keystone
According to investigators, the armed attack on tourists at the pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico was carried out by a lone perpetrator who was probably modeled on a massacre in the USA. A Canadian woman was killed and 13 other people were injured in the crime in the well-known ruined city near Mexico City. The crime occurred on the 27th anniversary of the school massacre on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in the US state of Colorado.
The day after the violent act, security authorities presented initial findings from the investigation at a press conference hosted by President Claudia Sheinbaum. The perpetrator, a 27-year-old Mexican, was carrying writings and pictures in a backpack that were probably “related to an act of violence in April 1999 in the USA,” said the Attorney General of the State of Mexico, José Luis Cervantes. Although he did not specifically mention Columbine, the 1999 crime was said to have been the model, according to media reports. At that time 13 people were killed. Cervantes spoke of a “psychopathic profile of the perpetrator, characterized by a tendency to imitate events from other countries.”
Attorney General: Attack was not spontaneous
“This act was not spontaneous,” Cervantes said. The perpetrator visited the excavation site several times before the incident. He was carrying a gun, a knife and a bag with 52 cartridges.
According to official information, the attacker fired 14 times from the Pyramid of the Moon. The first emergency call was received on Monday morning at 11:20 a.m. (local time), said local security chief Cristóbal Castañeda. Ten minutes later, the National Guard arrived in the ruined city. The officers shot the perpetrator in the leg. The man then took his own life.
According to a statement from the security cabinet, tourists from Colombia, Canada, Russia, Brazil and the USA were injured, seven of them by gunfire. Others suffered injuries as a result of falls. In addition to a six-year-old child from Colombia, the people with gunshot wounds also include a 13-year-old Brazilian girl.
Mexico once again provides security guarantees for the World Cup
The World Cup, hosted jointly by Mexico, the USA and Canada, will open on June 11th at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. “The security of the World Cup is guaranteed,” said Security Minister Omar García Harfuch. There were already concerns about the security situation in Mexico before the World Cup. At the end of February, the powerful drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was killed in a military operation. This was followed by serious outbreaks of violence by his supporters. More than 70 people were killed.
The country with around 130 million inhabitants is characterized by the violence of the drug cartels, but tourists have died as accidental victims. However, there had previously been no direct attack on tourists similar to the one in Teotihuacan.
President Sheinbaum: It was an unprecedented event
“We have never experienced anything like this in Mexico. “It’s the first time something like this has happened,” said President Sheinbaum. After the incident, the ruined city was closed until further notice. “There are no metal detector locks at archaeological sites,” said Sheinbaum. Now the security protocols should be checked and strengthened.
Teotihuacan is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico after Chichén Itzá on the Yucatán Peninsula. Because the facility is only around 50 kilometers from Mexico City, it is an almost essential day trip for tourists visiting the Mexican capital. Every year around 1.6 million people flock to the ruined city. (sda/dpa)