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Tourists at a four-star resort in Cancún were forced to flee as gunmen on jet skis stormed the beach and opened fire.
The shooting Tuesday at the Oasis Palm resort is just the latest in a rash of gunplay in the region that had Mexican authorities last month deploy a 1,500-strong National Guard force.
In the latest incident, five men in military uniforms converged on a resort billed as family-friendly and fired about 20 shots, according to reports.
The unidentified gunmen fired into the air, then abandoned their jet skis, changed into civilian clothes and fled, police said.
“Luckily nobody got hurt, but it could have gone a different way,” U.S. tourist Zayne Jones told KUTV-News. “Just not a good feeling having your kids out here.”
The Margin (February 2021): Ted Cruz cuts his Cancún vacation short after leaving Texas in the cold
“We just ran and hit the deck,” said Andy Guyrich, a Minnesota tourist.
On Wednesday, the State Department issued an advisory warning American tourists to the popular Quintana Roo state, including Cancún, to “exercise extreme caution” when traveling in the region.
Last month, a gunfight on the beach between rival Mexican drug gangs sent tourists scrambling at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera in Cancún’s resort zone. Police said one tourist received minor injuries in that incident.
From the archives (November 2021): Two dead in apparent drug execution on luxury Cancún resort beach
Mexican authorities later created a “tourist battalion” of National Guard troops to protect Cancún and nearby resorts — a significant source of income for the country.
“This battalion will provide security to the entire tourist area,” National Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said when he announced the move.
