Cancun shooting: LGBTQ guests forced to hide after armed men ‘storm’ 5-star resort
Guests and concerned spouses tweeted for help from authorities after a "rain of gunfire" came from the beach area.
Guests at a posh 5-star resort in Cancún, Mexico, were sent scurrying after reports of a live shooter opening fire on the beach began to accumulate on social media.
According to several tweets, the shooting allegedly took place at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancún resort. The story was first picked up by the London-based tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror.
“I am on call with the U.S. Embassy. If anyone can help, my husband and several others are at the Hyatt Ziva in Cancun. Men with guns stormed the beach and started shooting. Please spread the word and get help on this. I have no idea what to do…” tweeted one worried spouse.
I am on call with the U.S. Embassy. If anyone can help, my husband and several others are at the Hyatt Ziva in Cancun. Men with guns stormed the beach and started shooting.
Please spread the word and get help on this. I have no idea what to do…
— Andrew Krop (@akrop999) November 4, 2021
“My husband is there also. Texting with him now. …I have him texting me every 15 minutes to confirm he is ok so he can save battery,” tweeted another.
Mike Sington, a former senior executive at NBCUniversal, posted a video of people hiding or evacuating, tweeting: “All guests and employees told to duck, and we’re all taken to hiding places at Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancún Resort. Active shooter? Terrorist or kidnapping threat? They’re not telling us anything.”
Sington later tweeted an update: “Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran form beach and swimming pools. Staff hustled us into hiding rooms behind the kitchens.”
Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran from beach and swimming pools. Staff hustled us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 4, 2021
See also: Gay man tortured and killed in Cancún after revealing he was living with HIV
Troy Petenbrink, a Metro Weekly contributing writer, who is at the resort with his husband, told Metro Weekly that they had come to the recently opened Hyatt Ziva resort to attend an event sponsored by Vacaya, an LGBTQ travel company.
The weeklong event, which was held to coincide with the celebration of Halloween and el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), claims to be the largest exclusive LGBTQ land event, according to Petenbrink.
Petenbrink reported that he and his husband were barricaded in their room with seven other attendees and a Vacaya staff person, with the doors locked and hiding behind furniture.
“We had literally just arrived and were walking to the beach when a rain of gunfire happened, and people all started running from the beach and pool area to take cover,” he said. “It was chaos as people ran from the pool and beach. Many people [were] falling on the wet ground. It was slippery as hell.”
Petenbrink said he saw no shooting injuries, only some minor injuries that occurred when people fell while attempting to flee from the melee.
He noted that there have been rumors that a hotel security guard had been shot, but that assertion has not yet been verified.
Petenbrink said he has since received a text alert from Vacaya that a gunman has been apprehended.
This is a developing story.
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