Two Canadians die and a third wounded in shooting at Mexican resort in latest brazen act of violence along famed Mayan Riviera

• Two Canadians were killed Friday and and a third was wounded in a shooting at a hotel along Mexico’s Caribbean coast 
• Images from surveillance footage showed a man brandishing a shot gun as he walked around the resort near Cancun 
• Mexican police are searching for another person thought to have fired the shots who had a ‘long’ criminal record in Canada 

Two Canadians died of gunshot wounds after an argument turned violent at a resort near Cancun on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, authorities said on Friday.

Both guests at the upscale resort on the Riviera Maya of Quintana Roo state had criminal records, said Mexican officials, citing information from the Canadian police.

The Quintana Roo state prosecutor’s office said via Twitter that the suspect in the shooting was also apparently a guest and Canadian police informed them he was a known felon with a long record related to robbery, drug and weapons offenses.

A man could be seen brandishing a shotgun as he walked around a Mexican resort on Friday

The suspect in the shooting, pictured, was also apparently a guest.  Canadian police say that he was a known felon with a long record related to robbery, drug and weapons offenses

At one stage, the man could be seen sitting on a sun bed at the Xcaret Resort near Cancun

Quintana Roo’s head of public security, Lucio Hernandez, said on Twitter a gun was fired amid ‘an argument among hotel guests’ at the Hotel Xcaret, south of Playa del Carmen.

He shared a photo of a man walking with a handgun walking around the resort which sits on a stretch of white-sandy beach and lush jungle.

Three people were injured and taken to hospital, Hernandez said. The photos show the alleged shooter, showing a man in a gray track suit and black face mask wielding a gun in front of green landscaping.

Xcaret said the incident appeared to be ‘targeted and isolated’ and that the hotel was helping the affected people. 

An ambulance remains outside the Playamed hospital, where a wounded person was transferred after a shooting in a Hotel in Xcaret, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo state

At least two people where killed and one wounded after a shooting at the Xcaret hotel complex near Cancun, Mexico’s main Caribbean destination, authorities reported

Authorities guard the entrance of a hospital in the resort of Playa del Carmen, state of Quintana Roo, Mexico

Police guard the entrance of the Xcaret hotel in the resort of Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

An ambulance is seen at the entrance of a hospital in the resort of Playa del Carmen

‘We deeply regret the events that occurred at Hotel Xcaret this afternoon,’ it said in a statement.

The Canadian government said it was contacting Mexican authorities and could not provide more details due to privacy considerations. 

It is just the latest brazen act of violence along Mexico’s famed Mayan Riviera, the crown jewel of its tourism industry. 

In November, a shootout on the beach of Puerto Morelos left two suspected drug dealers dead. Authorities said there were some 15 gunmen from a gang that apparently disputed control of drug sales there.

In late October, farther south in the laidback destination of Tulum, two tourists – one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German – were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.

Following those events, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent nearly 1,500 members of the National Guard to reinforce security in the area.

A Mexican army truck and state police guard the entrance of the Xcaret hotel today, in the resort of Cancun, state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, 21 January 2022. One person is dead and two injured, all of Canadian origin, during a shooting that occurred inside a hotel located in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen, official sources reported. EPA/Alonso Cupul

Members of the Police guard the entrance of the Xcaret hotel today, near Cancun

Vehicles pass by the exterior of Hotel Xcaret where three Canadian citizens were injured by gunshots, near Playa del Carmen

Forensic technicians and hotel employees stand near a scene where three Canadian citizens were injured by gunshots at Hotel Xcaret, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

 It is just the latest brazen act of violence along Mexico’s famed Mayan Riviera, the crown jewel of its tourism industry

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