The authorities in Mexico are still piecing together how a typical morning at the ancient pyramid complex of Teotihuacán, one of the country's foremost tourist destinations, descended into terrifying gun violence on Monday.
The video footage is disturbing. A gunman stands atop the imposing Pyramid of the Moon and opens fire on the tourists around him, who cower for cover among the pre-Hispanic stone structures.
After the ordeal, a 32-year-old Canadian woman had been killed and the gunman had died from a self-inflicted gun wound. Tourists from several nations, including Russia, Colombia and Brazil, were treated for their injuries in local hospitals.
The fact that visitors from overseas were targeted poses a headache for the government just weeks before Mexico co-hosts the men's football World Cup.
The shooting came less than two months after masked gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel unleashed a wave of violence, sowing fear across the country following the killing of their leader El Mencho by the security forces.
But this incident was very different.
Mexican authorities say the Teotihuacán gunman acted alone and there was no apparent link to Mexico's widespread cartel violence.
The shooter, identified as 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramírez, was described as acting in isolation, according to Attorney-General José Luis Cervantes Martínez. Officials found a handgun and behavioral literature related to past violent acts in his possession, suggesting a profile similar to perpetrators of mass shootings in other countries.
The attack, echoing issues seen in the U.S., raises grave concerns about public safety and the influence of copycat behavior among troubled individuals in a society already grappling with violence.
This incident, along with worries about the ongoing cartel violence, clouds preparations for the upcoming World Cup, as officials work to reassure the public and tourists alike of their safety in the country.
