The Teotihuacan complex northeast of Mexico City is a spectacular archaeological site which I have visited thrice.
The Mesoamerican city was at its height in the first half of the first millenium A.D., long predating the arrival of the Aztecs to the area.
The sprawling Teotihuacan ruins are a major tourist destination in Mexico.
Its two largest structures are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
On April 20th, 2026, the Pyramid of the Moon was the site of a shooting in which a gunman took hostages and shot several of them, killing one. After being shot at by authorities, the gunman shot himself and died.
A Canadian woman was shot and killed by the gunman. Others were wounded, either by being shot or falling. Thirteen foreign tourists were taken to the hospital: 6 Americans, 3 Colombians, 2 Brazilians, 1 Russian and 1 Canadian. Their ages ranged from 6 to 61.
Were foreigners being targeted? Not necessarily, as Teotihuacan is a tourist site visited by many foreigners.
The gunman was Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez, a 27-year old Mexican of Mexico City.
What was/were Jasso’s motive/motives ? What is known thus far?
Jasso was obsessed with school shootings,and apparently was a Hitler fan. (Being a Hitler fan is not unknown in Mexico).
Note the day of the shooting – April 20th. The 20th of April is both the anniversary of the school shooting in Colombine, Colorado in 1999 and the birthday of Adolph Hitler in 1889.
Jasso had an AI image of himself with Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
Jasso seemed to link his crime to the Mesoamerican tradition of human sacrifice, yelling “Don’t move or I’ll sacrifice you” and ranting “This was built for sacrifices…Not for visiting and taking a f–king, s—ty photo.”
In some notes Jasso had written he claimed to was inspired from beyond Earth.
Probably the disturbed gunman was driven by several motives.
Jasso carried out the shootings with a handgun. While Mexico has some strict gun laws, any Mexican who wants to acquire a firearm seems to be able to do so.
Here is a graphic from Milenio about the attack:
From Milenio