Tourists flee for cover during shooting that leaves 2 dead in Puerto Morelos

A confrontation between presumed drug dealers left two people dead in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, while tourists and locals scrambled for cover.

The attackers arrived by boat on a beach in the Riviera Maya destination, then proceeded to execute two presumed low-level drug dealers. The incident occurred in Petempich Bay, causing many in the area to seek safe haven in the nearby hotels, including the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancún and Azul Beach Resort. In addition to the two deaths, a tourist received medical attention for a mild injury after being hit in the head with a firearm.

One witness to the chaos was NBC executive Mike Sington, who was at the Hyatt at the time.

“All guests and employees told to duck, and we’re all taken to hiding places at Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Resort. Active shooter? Terrorist or kidnapping threat? They’re not telling us anything,” Sington said on Twitter, posting video showing how he and others followed staff instructions to hide in the depths of the hotel.

“Other guests told me they heard gunfire. Resort is secluded, was told gunman came up from the beach. Hotel employees hugging each other,” he wrote half an hour later.

Another hotel guest wrote, also on Twitter: “Active shooter in our hotel. We’re hiding in my room, a group of us. Praying all guests and hotel staff get through this. Men with machine guns came in from the beach.”

Some 2 1/2 hours later, around 5 p.m., Hyatt staff told hotel guests that someone had been apprehended, but advised them to shelter in their rooms with the doors barricaded, Sington said. But state officials have not announced any arrests.

Rather, the Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office has only reported that the disturbance was a conflict between drug dealers, and that there were no serious injuries apart from the deaths of the alleged drug dealers.