An American tourist was shot in the leg by a group of assailants while vacationing on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, officials in Quintana Roo said Tuesday.
The seemingly random shooting took place around midnight Monday in the port town of Puerto Morelos, located just south of Cancun.
Several unidentified suspects approached the American man and shot him in the leg, prosecutors said.
Officials have not shared a motive for the crime.
The man was taken to a hospital in Cancun to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries to the leg.
The US State Department urged Americans to “exercise increased caution” while visiting Mexico’s Caribbean resorts following a deadly kidnapping near a US-Mexico border town.
Ahead of spring break, the State Department issued its harshest warning — a Level 4 travel advisory — for six Mexican states, including Tamaulipas — where the abductions occurred.
Some of the areas mentioned in the notice were already flagged as dangerous beginning in October but the travel warning was re-issued after four Americans were kidnapped.
Eric James Williams, of Winston-Salem, NC, was among the group of visiting Americans who were nabbed during a cartel shootout in the border city of Matamoros on March 3.
Williams and his friend Latavia “Tay” McGee, 35, were later found in a shack and were rushed back to the US to receive medical care. Two of their other friends, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, were killed in the attack.
The four Americans had made the journey to Mexico so McGee could undergo a tummy tuck procedure.
“Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico,” the US Department stated.
“The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted.”
With Post wires
