A Canadian tourist was killed and several foreign visitors were injured on Monday during a shooting at the Teotihuacan archaeological site near Mexico City. The attack, which occurred in broad daylight at one of the country’s most popular sites, has deeply shocked and raised concerns about security as the 2026 World Cup approaches.
The shooting broke out around noon at the Pyramid of the Moon, one of the site’s iconic monuments. According to authorities in the State of Mexico, an armed man opened fire from a midway platform on the structure before taking his own life.
Videos circulating on social media show the shooter, with a concealed face, intermittently firing shots. In one of them, a bystander can be heard saying, “We are being shot at, be careful, send security.” Law enforcement then secured the area while forensic experts worked on-site.
Other videos show police officers and forensic experts at the top of the pyramid in an empty complex cordoned off with crime scene tape.
One person, a Canadian tourist in her twenties, was fatally shot. Among the 13 injured foreign tourists, six were hit by bullets, including a six-year-old child. In total, three Colombians, one Canadian, two Brazilians, six Americans, and one Russian were injured.
Footage from the AFPTV shows forensic experts and Red Cross members carrying a body wrapped in a white sheet down from the pyramid.
The shooter, Julio César Jasso Ramírez, was a Mexican man in his thirties who died by suicide. The authorities mentioned a possible “direct attack” but did not specify the shooter’s motives at the time. On-site, security forces found “a firearm, a bladed weapon (a knife), and ammunition.”
The investigation continues to determine the exact circumstances of the attack and establish if the victim was specifically targeted.
The incident at Teotihuacan is unprecedented for several decades, with occasional accidents reported but not an armed attack of this magnitude. The event comes less than two months before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico is co-hosting with the United States and Canada. The country expects to host over 5.5 million visitors, highlighting the importance of security at tourist sites.
Teotihuacan is located approximately 50 km from the capital, where daily excursions depart for national and foreign tourists. With its Sun and Moon pyramids and Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacan is the most important monument from the pre-Hispanic classical period at its height in the Mexico Valley between the first and seventh centuries.
From January to July 2025, the pyramids of Teotihuacan were the second most visited archaeological site in the country, with over one million tourists, behind Chichen Itza, according to official figures. Mexico has more than 200 archaeological sites popular with tourists, where accidents have been recorded, but this is the first reported case of armed aggression in several decades.
