At least four people were killed after gunmen attacked the state prosecutor's office in Mexico's Caribbean resort city on Tuesday. The attack came a day after five people, including three foreigners, were killed at a music festival in Mexico.
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Authorities said that it is too early to link the two attacks, however it is clear that shooters were targeting Mexico's main tourism zone. The Caribbean resort city region has not seen much violence as opposed to other parts of the country.
The Quintana Roo state governor Carlos Joaquin said that at least three attackers and one policeman was killed in the recent shootings. Five suspects have also been taken into custody, he added.
The governor said the civilians in the area must remain calm as the federal government is deploying additional force to the region in the light of increase in number of such attacks. A witness told The Associated Press that the gunman who targeted the prosecutors' office also threw two explosive devices at a perimeter wall.
Soon after the attack, hundreds of people fled the Plaza de Las Americas shopping center after reports of gunfire inside. Soldiers reportedly rushed to the mall soon afterwards. It wasn't however clear what had happened or if shots were fired.
Irma Huxool, a woman present in the mall at the time of the incident, told The Associated Press that she had heard three gunshots "at the entrance to the cinema" and saw people running berserk.
Considering the incidents in Cancun, the US Consulate in Merdida has issued an alert, warning US citizens to be cautious and "to follow local authorities' warnings and directives and consult with their hotels before leaving the premises."
There were also shootings reported near the Playa del Carmen on Monday, however, that particular incident was linked to drug cartels. The association was strengthened after a banner briefly appeared along a roadside, signed by the "Old School Zetas," part of the fragmented Zetas cartel, which suggested that the shootings were carried out by them against the rival gangs in the region.
