mexico city — The Mexican government said it had beefed up security at tourist sites after a man opened fire on tourists at the pyramids outside Mexico City less than two months before the soccer World Cup.
Monday’s shooting, carried out by a lone gunman atop one of the pyramids of Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Mexico’s most visited tourist attractions, left a Canadian tourist dead and dozens of others injured.
It also sparked a flurry of questions the next morning from reporters to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about the security protocols her government was taking ahead of the sporting competition, which Mexico will host jointly with the United States and Canada over the summer.
National Guard troops patrol the pyramids of Teotihuacan, which remained closed a day after a gunman opened fire on tourists outside Mexico City, Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
AFP Photos/Marco Ugarte
About an hour from Mexico City, the city of Teotihuacan was scheduled to be a major site for visitors during the celebrations. Just days before the shooting, local lawmakers pushed an initiative to revive a nighttime interactive light show projected onto the pyramids for World Cup visitors, which had previously been suspended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unexpected act of violence comes as Sheinbaum’s government has made great efforts to project an image of safety ahead of the soccer tournament, following a surge in gang violence last February in the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.
“Events like this only amplify the negative images Mexico has regarding security issues, undermining the narrative that President Sheinbaum is trying to assert that Mexico is a safe country,” said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo.
“Isolated incident”
Sheinbaum acknowledged Tuesday that the archaeological site lacked security filters to prevent the attack in part, she said, because the shooting “was an isolated incident” that had never happened before in such a public space.
While Mexico suffers from gang violence, especially in strategic and rural areas, public mass shootings are rare in Mexico compared to the United States, where it is much easier to obtain a gun legally.
She noted that the shooter appeared to be motivated by “external influences,” especially the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado.
“Our obligation as a government is to take appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again,” Sheinbaum said Tuesday morning. “But obviously we all know – and Mexicans know – that this is something that has never happened before.”
Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfush, who is facing the government’s anti-cartel crackdown, said on Tuesday that security forces had been ordered to “immediately reinforce security” at archaeological sites and major tourist destinations across the country.
He said the government would increase the presence of the Mexican National Guard, enhance security checks at key sites and strengthen surveillance systems to “identify and prevent any threats” against citizens and visitors.
Security concerns before the World Cup
This announcement was an attempt by the Mexican authorities to allay ongoing concerns about violence in Mexico ahead of the tournament.
Sheinbaum’s government has touted security successes under her leadership. Government figures show homicides have fallen sharply since she took office, to their lowest levels in a decade. The government also deposed a number of top capos and highlighted a decline in fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But it has encountered obstacles in recent months, most notably the outbreak of violence in Guadalajara in February, due to the killing of the most powerful gang leader in Mexico. The bloodshed was met with a wave of concern among people inside and outside Mexico. Sheinbaum pledged there would be “no risk” to fans attending the tournament, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he had “complete confidence” in Mexico as the host nation. Sheinbaum later met with FIFA representatives to assess the security situation for the World Cup matches to be held in Mexico.
The Mexican government doubled its security measures, which included the deployment of 100,000 security forces throughout the country, particularly concentrated in the country’s three host cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Officials said it would deploy more than 2,000 military vehicles, as well as dozens of aircraft and drones, and establish a security perimeter around areas such as stadiums and airports in major cities.
“As you can see, we are very prepared for the World Cup,” Sheinbaum said in early March.
Despite the rare nature of Monday’s pyramid shooting, the extreme act of violence has reignited scrutiny by some about the government’s ability to prevent violence during the soccer tournament, and once again increased pressure on the government.
FIFA was contacted to comment on the shooting incident at the pyramid, but FIFA does not usually address security issues and incidents that occur away from tournament stadiums.
Saucedo, the security analyst, said pressure to concentrate security in host cities and tourist areas such as Teotihuacan may come at the expense of other crime-ridden areas that are more in need of police and the military.
“Events like the one that occurred yesterday in Teotihuacan clearly show that public safety agencies are exhausted,” he said.
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