‘Horrible scene’: Vancouver group was visiting Mexico pyramid when shots rang out – BC

A Vancouver resident was visiting Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids on Monday when shots rang out.

Barb Welsh is in Mexico with seven girlfriends and they were on a private tour to visit the Pyramid of the Moon.

“My girlfriend and I, Leanne… we started up the, to walk up to the, to the pyramid,” Welsh told Global News.

“We thought about maybe a quarter of a way up, both of us, and we were starting to feel the — it’s a very, very steep climb and we were starting to feel the altitude.”

So they decided to go back down.

“Thank goodness we went back,” Welsh said.

The group was at the bottom, looking at some vendors, when shots rang out.

“We thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that sounds like firecrackers. What is that?” Welsh said.

“And then I looked up and I could see people just like a waterfall coming down the pyramids and we said, ‘Oh no, you know the guy said it’s a shooter. Run, run…’ So we ran and just as fast as we could and it was still the shooting was going on we could hear it and we could see people falling down the pyramids and it, it was just a horrible scene and anyway we were lucky we ran the right way.”

Welsh said they got to the parking lot where their guide had called their driver and they jumped in the van as the shooting still continued.

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She said she doesn’t think anyone even realized what was happening, but they felt very lucky to get out of there unscathed.

A Canadian woman was killed in the shooting, four people were injured by gunfire and two were injured by falls, according to the Mexico State Secretariat of Security.

The shooter is believed to have taken his own life.

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Canadian killed in shooting at Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramids

“The shots did not stop, even until we got in the van,” Welsh said. “And I’d say at least 20 minutes of shots, at least.”

The Teotihuacán pyramids are a very popular tourist spot outside of Mexico City.

“We were like, ‘How could this be happening?’” Welsh said.

“This seems to be such a gentle city and everybody’s been so wonderful. And it just never, I guess, like everybody says, you never think it’s going to happen to you. And I just, we’re just in absolute shock. And we were just so thankful that we were able to get out and very thankful that I turned around.

“I mean, just pure luck. I turned around when we were going up the stairs. My girlfriend Leanne and I would have been on the top. There’s no question. The shooter is actually in two of our pictures.”

Welsh said it’s so hard to think about people visiting a tourist site, with people of all ages, adding that they are all still in shock.

“We’re just thankful,” she said.

“We’re just really thankful. We’re thankful that our guide pushed us in the right direction. I mean, when somebody says run, you never know where to run and she actually got us to the parking lot and we are all together the whole time and then our van driver, who drove like a maniac. As a matter of fact, the alert went out to his boss that he was driving so so carelessly and he was able to pick us up. We got there, we saw the police, we were driving and we saw police maybe 10 minutes after we were already on the road coming. I mean that’s how fast he was getting us out of there. But we could still hear the shots even in the van.”

Welsh said that despite the incident, she still feels safe in Mexico.

“I think this can happen anywhere,” she said.

“And we have had, we’re a week in right now. We’ve had an amazing time. We’ve never felt unsafe here at all. As a matter of fact, I think that it’s one of the safest places I feel like we’ve been to.

“People are very kind. It’s very shocking. I feel terrible that this has happened to them. It’s just a terrible situation.”

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