Violencia
Today began as any other day in Paradise. After a long run along the malecon, Bill and I headed to the pool area of our hotel. Hotel Hacienda, recommended by our cab driver, sits on the beautiful malecon in Mazatlan and our fifth floor balcony commands a sweeping ocean and beach view. It appeared that there was a Federale Police Convention going on at the hotel, as the place had many police officers staying. They were all checking out this morning.
We had the pool to ourselves. We had just rinsed in the fresh waters of the cool lobby pool and were sitting on our beach chairs reading and talking when we heard about 4 popping sounds seemingly coming from the hotel lobby. Alarmed, I turned to Bill and said, “That sounds like gunfire.” Then more pops. I lept off my cabana planning to hit the pool deck, but realized I was too vulnerable and instead ran to and squatted down behind a small walled pool maintenance area. Bill squatted on the other side. The lobby staff also ran out into the pool area into an area and took shelter in a small space where food was typically served. More pops were happening.
Inside the little area where I was squatting I searched for a better hiding spot, but other than crawling inside a sandwich board, I had no other place to hide. Bill’s location was much more vulnerable than mine as he was fully exposed, but squatting in a corner of the deck. The shooting stopped. About 7-8 shots had been fired.
Gradually people began to peek out of their hiding spots. Bill crept into the hotel lobby and returned, eyes wide, announcing, “There is a man dead on the street in front of the hotel.” I continued to squat, not knowing where the gunman had gone. However, people gingerly began to move out from their hiding locations to observe the dead man. He had been shot through the head. Splayed across the middle of the road, his head leaked blood and brains. He appeared to be a Mexican man about 35 years of age. We left the hotel lobby to observe from our 5th floor balcony. I videotaped the scene but have no technological capacity to share them with me here in Mexico. Bill took some snap shots. I have included them in this blog, but I warn you, they are very graphic. Please, do not scroll down unless you are willing to see the victim.
Our poor maid was cleaning our room when we arrived back into our room. She looked much shaken and when I gave her a hug, she burst into tears. We couldn’t communicate, but we were able to communicate in the face of human tragedy. We watched the police of different levels from Municipal to Federal deal with the body, examine the wounds, the scene including the shell casings and wrap it up and have traffic moving again without from what we observed not one person interviewed
Before long, the crime scene was cordoned off and the place began to crawl with Federales, municipal police and plain clothed detectives. Reporters, the ambulance and the morgue gradually all came by performing their prescribed duties in such a situation.
We are in the dark as to the motive or the identity of the man. Naturally, speculation is that it was drug related and/or the Mafiosi sending a message to Federales that they will not tolerate their crackdown on drug activity in Mexico.
Tonight when we signed up for diving, we were telling the dive master about the incident and pointed to a Bible on his desk. He said that all Mexico is praying for the drug war to stop. He advised us some official from Colombia is expected into town in the next day or two to assist the Mexican government in strategies to reduce drug activity in Mexico. Apparently, since he took over as this official of Colombo, the crime rate was significantly reduced. I sure hope he can help the Mexican people.
A real man was shot dead outside our hotel. It really happens. The violence in Mexico or anywhere, for that matter is not real until you observe it. Bill became angry at the thought of how these senseless people could bring another person’s life to an end and wondered: Was the victim so evil he needed to be eliminated? As Bill is adamantly opposed to murder, it is hard for him to understand why a person has to die in such a meaningless way.
It is interesting how de-human a person becomes after they are dead. This dead man became a spectacle to the public, Mexicans and tourists alike. I hope that I have treated the documentation of this respectfully and that our photos and video tape are not to exploit the situation, but to provide an aspect of journalism and documentation of our travels.
We are fine. However, tonight when a youth band struck up outside our hotel, the staccato of the snare drum, (rat, tat, tat), sounded like the gunshots and I felt a thrill through my body commanding me to get down. The ensuing music calmed me.
The pictures are attached below and depict the man only minutes from the time he was killed. View at on your own discretion.
We had the pool to ourselves. We had just rinsed in the fresh waters of the cool lobby pool and were sitting on our beach chairs reading and talking when we heard about 4 popping sounds seemingly coming from the hotel lobby. Alarmed, I turned to Bill and said, “That sounds like gunfire.” Then more pops. I lept off my cabana planning to hit the pool deck, but realized I was too vulnerable and instead ran to and squatted down behind a small walled pool maintenance area. Bill squatted on the other side. The lobby staff also ran out into the pool area into an area and took shelter in a small space where food was typically served. More pops were happening.
Inside the little area where I was squatting I searched for a better hiding spot, but other than crawling inside a sandwich board, I had no other place to hide. Bill’s location was much more vulnerable than mine as he was fully exposed, but squatting in a corner of the deck. The shooting stopped. About 7-8 shots had been fired.
Gradually people began to peek out of their hiding spots. Bill crept into the hotel lobby and returned, eyes wide, announcing, “There is a man dead on the street in front of the hotel.” I continued to squat, not knowing where the gunman had gone. However, people gingerly began to move out from their hiding locations to observe the dead man. He had been shot through the head. Splayed across the middle of the road, his head leaked blood and brains. He appeared to be a Mexican man about 35 years of age. We left the hotel lobby to observe from our 5th floor balcony. I videotaped the scene but have no technological capacity to share them with me here in Mexico. Bill took some snap shots. I have included them in this blog, but I warn you, they are very graphic. Please, do not scroll down unless you are willing to see the victim.
Our poor maid was cleaning our room when we arrived back into our room. She looked much shaken and when I gave her a hug, she burst into tears. We couldn’t communicate, but we were able to communicate in the face of human tragedy. We watched the police of different levels from Municipal to Federal deal with the body, examine the wounds, the scene including the shell casings and wrap it up and have traffic moving again without from what we observed not one person interviewed
Before long, the crime scene was cordoned off and the place began to crawl with Federales, municipal police and plain clothed detectives. Reporters, the ambulance and the morgue gradually all came by performing their prescribed duties in such a situation.
We are in the dark as to the motive or the identity of the man. Naturally, speculation is that it was drug related and/or the Mafiosi sending a message to Federales that they will not tolerate their crackdown on drug activity in Mexico.
Tonight when we signed up for diving, we were telling the dive master about the incident and pointed to a Bible on his desk. He said that all Mexico is praying for the drug war to stop. He advised us some official from Colombia is expected into town in the next day or two to assist the Mexican government in strategies to reduce drug activity in Mexico. Apparently, since he took over as this official of Colombo, the crime rate was significantly reduced. I sure hope he can help the Mexican people.
A real man was shot dead outside our hotel. It really happens. The violence in Mexico or anywhere, for that matter is not real until you observe it. Bill became angry at the thought of how these senseless people could bring another person’s life to an end and wondered: Was the victim so evil he needed to be eliminated? As Bill is adamantly opposed to murder, it is hard for him to understand why a person has to die in such a meaningless way.
It is interesting how de-human a person becomes after they are dead. This dead man became a spectacle to the public, Mexicans and tourists alike. I hope that I have treated the documentation of this respectfully and that our photos and video tape are not to exploit the situation, but to provide an aspect of journalism and documentation of our travels.
We are fine. However, tonight when a youth band struck up outside our hotel, the staccato of the snare drum, (rat, tat, tat), sounded like the gunshots and I felt a thrill through my body commanding me to get down. The ensuing music calmed me.
The pictures are attached below and depict the man only minutes from the time he was killed. View at on your own discretion.
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