One child out of seven fatally shot at a resort in central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A 7-year-old boy was among seven killed on Saturday when a group of gunmen stormed a resort where dozens of vacationers were spending their weekend in central Mexico, authorities said.

Officials in the municipality of Cortazar, in the state of Guanajuato, said in a statement that an eighth person was seriously wounded in an attack this afternoon in the resort town of La Palma. The statement did not speculate on a possible motive.

After the shooting, officials said, the attackers destroyed the spa shop and took the security cameras before fleeing. Three women, three men and the child died.

A video posted on social media shows several people in swimsuits running, crying, screaming and hugging their children.

Mexican soldiers and police, aided by a helicopter, are searching for the attackers.

Guanajuato, an agricultural and industrial center, has been Mexico’s most violent state for years.

The Jalisco drug cartel of the new generation is fighting local criminal groups, including the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which appears to be supported by the Sinaloa cartel.