One person has died and four were badly injured after a horrific shooting at a teenager’s birthday party.
A 15-year-old girl had been celebrating when an attack turned her dream day into a nightmare.
The teen had been dancing to a Ricky Martin song, along with others, when the shooter opened fire.
She had been celebrating a ‘coming of age’ celebration, called a ‘quinceañera’, at the César function room in Villagrán, north west of Mexico City, Mexico, on May 13.
Horrific footage, which The Mirror has chosen not to show, caught the moment the shots were fired in the packed venue as attendees panicked.
Some tried desperately to flee as others hid.
Footage shows the teen dancing with several others, doing a choreographed routine, when loud gunshots filled the air.
They continued as people panicked and fled or hid.
The National Guard and members of Mexico’s Army descended on the scene under direction of the State Attorney General’s Office.
As things stand it isn’t clear who carried out the shooting, and why they did so, but some local reports have claimed it was done by hitmen of the notorious Gulf Cartel.
The investigation continues.
The Gulf Cartel are notorious throughout Mexico, and recently turned over two of their own after they were allegedly involved in the kidnapping of four Americans.
A letter claiming to be from the Gulf cartel's Scorpions faction condemned the violence and said the gang had turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible.
“We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter read, adding that those individuals had gone against the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent”.
The four Americans crossed into Matamoros, Mexico, from Texas so that one of them could have cosmetic surgery. Around midday, they were fired on in downtown Matamoros and then loaded into a pickup truck.
Americans Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard died in the attack; Eric Williams and Latavia McGee survived. Most of them had grown up together in the small town of Lake City, South Carolina.
The Gulf Cartel were implicated as involved in the kidnapping by a leaked US document that identified 44 members thought to be involved in the kidnapping.
This included the cartel's leader who is in a Mexico City jail, awaiting extradition to the US.
The DEA identified José 'El Contador' Cárdenas as the leader of the Gulf Cartel, which has been around since 1930 and is based out of Tamaulipas.
Mexican authorities have confirmed Mr Cárdenas was taken into custody on February 27, 2022 in Mexico City and is set to be extradited to the US.
