Gunmen kill at least seven people at water park in central Mexico

Celaya: Six people and a kid were killed by gunmen who invaded a water park in central Mexico on Saturday, causing fear among the crowd, according to local authorities.

Police “arrived at the scene where they found… three dead women, three dead men, and a seven-year-old minor, in addition to one person seriously wounded,” according to a statement from Cortazar City Hall, the municipality where the attack occurred, according to AFP.

Violence linked to drugs has increased significantly recently in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.

The attackers arrived at the La Palma swimming resort at 4:30 p.m. local time (2230 GMT) “to perpetrate the attack,” according AFP.

Attackers went directly toward a group of people and opened fire, then yanked out security cameras from the site before retreating, authorities said.

According to a video posted on local news site Debate Noticias, which was taken by an eye-witness at the scene, the victims had collapsed on the floor or on the chairs where they were sitting amid thick clouds of smoke — apparently from the gunshots.

The footage also shows people running for cover from the gunfire.

The website of TV Azteca, one of Mexico’s main television networks, had a video from the scene showing panic-stricken adults and children still in swimwear — including pool floats — on the scene after the shooting.

The attack occurred on the last day of the spring school vacation period.

The resort, abutting a university campus, was swarmed by military and state police after the attack.

Guanajuato, a prosperous industrial state, has become one of Mexico’s most dangerous due to a feud between the Santa Rosa de Lima crime syndicate and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is dedicated to fuel theft and drug trafficking.

Since the government controversially sent the army to battle drug cartels in 2006, Mexico has recorded over 350,000 homicides, the majority of which have been blamed on criminal groups, reported AFP.

With inputs from agencies

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