At least 3 dead after shooting, dramatic police chase on beach in Acapulco, Mexico
At least three people were killed in a shooting and a subsequent chase by police officers Saturday at a beachside restaurant in Mexico's Pacific coast resort of Acapulco. The prosecutor's office in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, said two gunmen approached and killed two men at a beachside restaurant. Police then chased the attackers down the beach as they were "escaping towards the sea," officials said.
Police killed one of the suspects and seriously wounded the other. Video posted on social media and YouTube showed people running down the beach as gunshots rang out. Others appeared to take cover behind tables or chairs.
The prosecutor's office posted two images from the scene, including a photo that appears to show officers giving chase on the beach as sunbathers watch the dramatic scene unfold next to the water.
Authorities said two 9mm pistols were seized in the area.
The shooting comes just days after the severed heads of six men were reportedly discovered on top of a Volkswagen in the town of Chilapa de Alvarez, which is also in Guerrero state.
Beachside shootings have occurred before in Acapulco, which has been plagued by gang violence since 2006.
In November, police said gunmen pulled up in a boat and shot a man to death on a popular beach in Acapulco. The attackers then apparently fled in the boat.
On Mexico's Caribbean coast, there was a Nov. 4 shootout on a beach in Puerto Morelos south of Cancun, involving a squad of armed men who left two alleged drug dealers dead. That daytime bloodshed sent tourists scrambling for cover at two large hotels where local drug gangs were apparently competing for drug sales.
Across the country, more than 340,000 people have been killed in a wave of bloodshed since the government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.
Earlier this month, 20 people were killed at a venue used to host cockfights in the town of Las Tinajas, Michoacan state in Mexico. An American mother was among the victims.
On Thursday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused popular TV shows of glamorizing the violent drug trade.
He told reporters the shows feature "gangs of drug traffickers, with actors, men, beautiful women, property, the latest cars, jewelry, designer clothes, power."
But they ignore "the destruction in particular of young people. And we are talking about thousands of deaths. In the United States, it's a serious problem," he added, referring to victims of drug overdoses.
Lopez Obrador took office in 2018 championing a "hugs not bullets" strategy to tackle violent crime at its roots by fighting poverty and inequality with social programs, rather than with the army.
He has asked the U.S. to invest in regional economic development instead of sending helicopter gunships and other weapons to take on drug traffickers.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
