Mexico pledges World Cup safety after shooting at ancient pyramids

MEXICO CITY – Top Mexican officials on April 21 vowed to ensure safety ahead of the World Cup soccer matches following a shooting at the famed Teotihuacan pyramids that killed a Canadian tourist, and said the gunman appeared to have been influenced by violent incidents abroad.

Holding a gun and carrying a knife in his backpack, the 27-year-old man caused panic when he opened fire from atop a pyramid within the sprawling complex that is one of Mexico’s top tourism draws, officials said. He then took his own life.

Mexican officials said he acted alone, firing 14 times at victims and at National Guard military police.

Literature about acts of violence

Documents in his possession referenced the 1999 Columbine school massacre in Colorado and indicated psychopathic behaviour, said Mr Luis Cervantes, attorney-general of the State of Mexico, home to Teotihuacan.

“Among his belongings, the authorities also found... literature, images and documents allegedly related to acts of violence that... may have occurred in the United States in April 1999,” he said at the President’s daily press conference. 

Mr Cervantes added that the shooting appeared to have been planned, and that the gunman had visited Teotihuacan, about 50km from Mexico City, many times before. Along with the gun, the shooter carried a plastic bag of 52 live .38 Special-calibre rounds. “This act was not spontaneous,” Mr Cervantes said.

A tourist who witnessed the shooting told Reuters that visitors also heard the attacker mention Columbine, one of the most notorious mass shootings in US history that has been said to inspire other attackers.

A separate person who also saw the shooting said he had feared a higher death toll.

“He was firing and firing and firing, and the bullets were making different sounds,” Mr Barak Hardley, a tourist from Los Angeles, told Reuters.

“I don’t know why he stopped with one person. Thank God he did.”    

Tightened security measures for tourist sites

Mexico’s security Cabinet on April 20 said 13 people were injured, including a 13-year-old and a six-year-old. They hailed from Canada, the US, Colombia, Russia, Brazil and the Netherlands. Seven of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, Mr Cervantes added on April 21.

“The state’s response was immediate and forceful,” Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch told reporters, adding that law enforcement will tighten security at archaeological sites and other top tourist draws.

Teotihuacan, a collection of towering pyramids and temples that were first occupied from 100BC to AD500 and later taken over by the Aztecs, attracted 1.8 million visitors in 2025, according to Mexico’s tourism ministry.

The prized site was scheduled to reopen on April 22 with reinforced security, President Claudia Sheinbaum said.

She reiterated Mexico’s guarantees of safety during the world’s largest soccer event, which will open on June 11 in Mexico City before matches in other major Mexican cities, and said on April 20 that she met FIFA staff, who organise the World Cup, to discuss logistics.

“We all know we had never seen anything like this in Mexico,” she said. “From what prosecutors have indicated, this person showed signs of psychological problems and was influenced by incidents that had occurred abroad.”

Ms Sheinbaum had already faced questions about safety around the World Cup after the capture and death of drug kingpin El Mencho in March sparked violent episodes in various regions around the country. REUTERS