Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🔺 Teotihuacán shooting: Sheinbaum opened her press conference by expressing solidarity with the family of a 32-year-old Canadian woman killed by a gunman at the archaeological site on Monday. Thirteen others were hospitalized, including nationals from Colombia, Russia, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States.
- 🔍 Lone-wolf, copycat profile: The attacker, identified as Julio César Jasso Ramírez, 27, killed himself after being shot by the National Guard. Authorities found material allegedly linked to the Columbine massacre and believe he planned the attack over multiple prior visits to the site.
- 🏛️ Security overhaul pledged: Sheinbaum noted archaeological sites have never had metal detectors “because situations like this had never occurred.” She announced stricter entry inspections going forward. Teotihuacán will reopen on Wednesday.
Why today’s mañanera matters
The primary focus of President Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference was the shooting that occurred on Monday at the Teotihuacán archaeological site, a pre-Columbian city located around 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. A gunman killed a Canadian woman and wounded 7 other people — all foreigners — before turning the gun on himself. The shooting at one of Mexico’s best-known tourism attractions made headlines around the world.
Sheinbaum stressed that such an attack was unprecedented at an archaeological site in Mexico. Nevertheless, a random shooting that claimed the life of one foreigner and left various others with injuries will no doubt inflict some damage on Mexico’s international reputation.
With the first match of the FIFA men’s World Cup in Mexico City less than two months away, the federal government will be working overtime to convince foreigners that Mexico is a safe place to visit. That work already ramped up after the violent response to the killing of cartel boss “El Mencho” in a military operation in February.
The government response to this attack, including the planned beefing up of security at Teotihuacán and other archaeological sites, will be crucial to giving everyone — Mexicans and foreigners — the confidence to keep visiting Mexico’s numerous pre-Columbian architectural masterpieces.
Sheinbaum laments shooting at Teotihuacán
At the very start of her press conference, Sheinbaum expressed the government’s “solidarity” with the relatives of the Canadian woman killed by a gunman at the Teotihuacán archaeological site on Monday, and with those injured.
The government of México state — where Teotihuacán is located — reported on Monday night that 13 people were hospitalized due to injuries they sustained at the archaeological site. Seven of those people were shot, while the others sustained injuries due to falls. Those injured are from Colombia, Canada, Russia, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States. The youngest victim is a six-year-old Colombian boy, who was shot, while the oldest is a 61-year-old American woman, who also sustained a gunshot wound.
The Canadian woman who was killed was 32. Her identity had not been disclosed as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The gunman, who killed himself at the scene of the crime, was identified as 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramírez. México state Security Minister Cristóbal Castañeda said that Jasso was from Tlapa, Guerrero.
In video footage, the attacker can be heard telling people who were with him on a platform of the Pyramid of the Moon that tourists who came to Mexico from “fucking Europe” won’t return.
Castañeda: Gunman killed himself after he was shot in the leg by the GN
Castañeda told Sheinbaum’s press conference that the gunman took his own life after he was shot in the leg by members of the National Guard, which responded to the attack perpetrated from the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán. State and municipal police also responded to the shooting.
The México state security minister said that authorities determined that the aggressor acted alone. He said that Jasso arrived at the site in an Uber vehicle. Castañeda also said that authorities had located a hotel where the gunman stayed the night prior to committing the attack.
He said that six of the seven people who were shot have been discharged from hospital.
Gunman was allegedly inspired by 1999 Columbine massacre in US
México state Attorney General José Luis Cervantes Martínez said that at the scene of the crime, authorities collected a pistol, a knife and 52 cartridges that the gunman hadn’t used. He said that authorities also seized the aggressor’s “tactical-style backpack” as well as a voter’s ID card, a cell phone, bus tickets, and “literature, images [and] manuscripts allegedly related to violent events … in the United States in April 1999.”
That was a reference to the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred on April 20, 1999, exactly 27 years before the shooting at Teotihuacán.
Jasso reportedly appears in photographs performing the Nazi Salute. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, exactly 137 years before Monday’s attack.
Cervantes said that evidence indicates that Jasso has a “psychopathic profile … characterized by a tendency to copy situations that occurred in other places, at other times and by other people.”
The “hypothesis” that Jasso was a “copycat” killer is under investigation, he said.
AG: ‘Quick’ GN intervention prevented more serious consequences
Cervantes said that the “quick intervention” of the National Guard (GN) prevented “more serious consequences” — i.e., deaths and injuries. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch made similar remarks, saying that the GN intervention stopped the gunman from attacking and thus “prevented the loss of more lives.”
García Harfuch also said that the gun used by the attacker was almost 60 years old, as it was made in “approximately” 1968. Cervantes said that authorities didn’t know where Jasso obtained the gun, but added that they had determined that he paid 40,000 pesos (US $2,300) for it.
The México state attorney general also said that the attack was not “spontaneous,” explaining that authorities determined that the gunman visited Teotihuacán on “various” prior occasions — allegedly to plan his attack.
Asked whether racism could have motivated the attack, given the message the gunman conveyed to European tourists, Cervantes responded:
“As you know, the attacker lost his life. That makes it impossible for us to conduct subsequent interviews. … I wouldn’t speak about a motive, I would speak about psychopathy, I would speak about an ailment, I would speak about an illness and within the framework of that illness one can commit all kinds of barbarities. … We have a preliminary conclusion that makes us assume … that [the attack] was the product of a mental ailment.”
Sheinbaum: Attack at archaeological site is the first of its kind
Referring to armed attacks at archaeological sites, Sheinbaum said, “we all know that we hadn’t witnessed something like that in Mexico.”
“It’s the first time it occurs,” she said.
🔴“No habíamos presenciado algo así en México, es la primera vez que ocurre”, dice la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum sobre el ataque en Teotihuacán.
Reiteró que el agresor, Julio César Jasso Ramírez, “tenía rasgos de problemas psicológicos y estaba influenciado por episodios que… pic.twitter.com/mS8HMPJIYk
— Azucena Uresti (@azucenau) April 21, 2026
Sheinbaum acknowledged that it appears that the gunman had “psychological problems” and “was influenced by episodes that occurred abroad.”
“So it’s not something that is related to [organized] crime,” she said.
Sheinbaum acknowledged that the question everyone is asking is: How did the man get into Teotihuacán with a gun?
“There aren’t security arches in archaeological sites,” she said, referring to walk-through metal detectors.
“There never has been. Why? Because these situations had never occurred,” Sheinbaum said.
She said that from now on, there must be more stringent inspections to ensure that guns aren’t taken into archaeological sites or other public places.
“We have to strengthen security in these sites, but we also have to recognize that this is the first time that a situation like this has occurred,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum: ‘It’s safe to be in Mexico’
A reporter noted that the U.S. Embassy issued a security alert in light of the shooting at Teotihuacán and asked the president whether it was an “exaggeration” to do so.
“They have their protocols,” Sheinbaum responded.
“… It’s safe to be in Mexico,” she added.
To support her assertion, Sheinbaum cited the arrival of more than 16 million international visitors to Mexico in the first two months of the year.
García Harfuch said that security in Mexico for the FIFA men’s World Cup — which will commence in just over seven weeks — is “guaranteed.”
Teotihuacán to reopen on Wednesday
Sheinbaum said that Teotihuacán — one of Mexico’s most-visited archaeological sites — will reopen to the public on Wednesday.
“It opens tomorrow with the reinforcement of security,” she said.
Sheinbaum reiterated that “this situation is a situation that we all lament.”
However, she stressed that “there is confidence in our country,” including from the tens of millions of foreign tourists who come to Mexico every year.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
