Possible motive of gunman revealed after he opened fire on tourists at iconic Mexican pyramid site
Greg Harris
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu via Getty
The gunman who opened fire on tourists at an ancient Mexican pyramid site may have been influenced by past mass shootings, authorities say.
The shooting unfolded on Monday, April 20 at Mexico’s iconic Teotihuacán pyramids, leaving a Canadian woman dead and at least 13 other tourists injured at the site which is located north of Mexico City.
Terrifying footage shared online shows tourists cowering on the ground as a gunman - identified by authorities as Julio César Jasso Ramírez, a 27-year-old from Guerrero, Mexico - paces further up the pyramid.
Video recorded by one of the victims reportedly shows the gunman threatening those nearby, saying: “You who've come from f****** Europe aren't going back. If you move, I'll sacrifice you. See? I keep my word,” CBS Austin reports.
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Seven people were wounded by gun shots, the local government said, while six were injured during falls.
Authorities say the shooter took his own life at the scene after the attack, following a confrontation with security forces.
As the investigation into the motive behind the shooting continues, authorities said on Tuesday that the gunman carried materials that were reportedly related to the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
Although officials did not mention Columbine specifically, they referred to the discovery of several books and handwritten notes that belonged to the gunman that referenced attacks in the US in April 1999. Monday was the 27th anniversary of the massacre.
Authorities say Ramírez’s belongings included a photo modified by AI showing him alongside the Columbine shooters, according to a state official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
He is believed to have arrived in Teotihuacán the day before the shooting in a taxi and stayed in a hotel, and have visited the site multiple times to prepare for the attack.
He began firing at tourists while atop Teotihuacán's Pyramid of the Moon, said José Luis Cervantes Martínez, the attorney general of the state of Mexico.
The shooter opened fire on security forces who approached him, and turned the gun on himself once he felt cornered, according to Cervantes Martínez.
He said: "The evidence gathered so far suggests a psychopathic profile of the aggressor, characterized by a tendency to copy situations that occurred elsewhere, at other times and involving other individuals."
Teotihuacán, one of the largest cities in the ancient Americas before its decline in the 6th century, began building the Pyramid of the Moon around 100 CE as a key ceremonial site.
Archaeologists have found strong evidence that it was used as a site for ritual human sacrifices. At the Pyramid of the Moon and other major structures, excavations have found human remains believed to be sacrificial victims and offerings buried with the bodies.
The attorney general noted that the shooter carried a tactical-style backpack that held an analog cellphone and bus tickets. He also carried with him ‘literature, images and manuscripts’ related to ‘violent incidents known to have occurred in the United States in April 1999’, AP reports.