A shooting at Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids on Monday left a Canadian woman dead and six injured as the shooter later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Now more details about the suspect has emerged, including a chilling link to the Columbine shooting in the US.
Videos of the shooting at the pyramids were shared online and showed a man on top of the structure with a gun, while people duck for cover. Shots could also be heard ringing out in the clips shared.
As per the local government, the shooting left four wounded by gunshots and two injured during the fall. All victims were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. The local government noted that the victims included Colombian, Russian and Canadian tourists and the extent of injuries was not immediately clear.
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Here is all you need to know about the suspect and the link to the Columbine shooting.
Mexico shooting at Teotihuacan pyramids: Suspect details
While authorities are yet to name the suspect in the shooting today at the Teotihuacan pyramids, some details have been reported on.
Azucena Uresti, Mexican television news anchor, shared that a hunting weapon, a knife, cartridges, and material with references to the former Soviet Union were found on the shooter. Uresti added on X “It would be a Mexican, with an address in Mexico City, as stated on an INE credential that was found on him.”
The shooting suspect also allegedly wore a ‘National Selection’ type of tee-shirt, as per Uresti, who works for Milenio Television and Radio Fórmula.
“The garment is linked to the ‘true crime’ aesthetic. It references the t-shirt worn by Eric Harris in 1999. The incident occurred on April 20, the same date as the Columbine massacre,” she noted. The shirt worn by the Mexico shooter reportedly references the one Harris wore in 1999, during the Columbine High School shooting. The two incidents also took place on April 20, years apart.
What to know about the Columbine shooting
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, both twelfth-grade students at the time, shot and killed 13 students and one teacher in a school shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, in the US.
The onslaught by the duo ended as Harris and Klebold killed themselves. For a long time, the Columbine school shooting was the worst mass shooting at a K–12 school in US history until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012. The shooting reportedly led to copycats, in what came to be known as the ‘Columbine effect’.
Reactions to today’s Mexico shooting
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X “What happened today in Teotihuacán deeply pains us. I express my most sincere solidarity with the affected individuals and their families.”
Meanwhile, Anita Anand, Canada’s current foreign affairs minister commented that as a “result of a horrific act of gun violence, a Canadian was killed and another wounded in Teotihuacán” and that her “thoughts are with their family and loved ones.”
