Shootings Shake Mexico

Two consecutive days of shooting attacks that left a total of nine dead have put two of the jewels of Mexico’s Caribbean coast on edge and spurred a warning to tourists by the US government.

As investigators worked on Tuesday at the scene of a shooting the previous day that caused five deaths in the nearby beach town of Playa del Carmen, the region was stunned when gunmen assaulted the Quintana Roo state prosecutors’ offices in Cancun, and four people were killed, AP reported.

Authorities attributed both incidents to organized crime, but made no comment on whether they might be linked.

On Tuesday night, at the state prosecutors’ office, a police officer and three apparent attackers were killed as police repelled the afternoon attack and five suspects were detained.

Shortly after the gun battle at the prosecutors’ office, a convoy of police trucks streaked toward the gleaming Plaza de las Americas mall where hundreds of fearful shoppers flooded out the exits after people reported hearing gunfire. Soldiers in full battle gear cleared the property.

Later, an official with the prosecutor’s office said the mall scare proved to be a false alarm. Although some shoppers reported hearing gunshots, investigators found no sign of any crime there, said the official, who agreed to discuss the incident only if not quoted by name because he was not authorized to speak with press.

Authorities have released few details about the attack on the prosecutors’ office, including the number of attackers or information on those detained.

The Cancun shooting came one day after five people, including three foreigners, died during a shooting at a beachside club during the BPM electronic music festival in Playa del Carmen.

On Tuesday, the hypothesis of drug links to that shooting was strengthened after a banner briefly appeared along a roadside, signed by the “Old School Zetas,” part of the fragmented Zetas cartel, suggesting the attack was carried out as part of a battle against rival gangs.

Quintana Roo’s attorney general, Miguel Angel Pech, said investigators were looking into whether the banner referred to the BPM festival or one of its organizers.

Pech said authorities were investigating whether extortion, street-level drug sales or a murder plot was the motive behind the shooting, which also resulted in 15 people being wounded or injured.