Five people died after a dramatic shootout at a famed Mexico City mariachi plaza, officials said on Saturday, the latest in a recent string of crimes in the capital that will soon put to the test the incoming government's new tactics to fight violence.
At Plaza Garibaldi in the capital's historic downtown on Friday night, gunmen said by witnesses to be dressed as mariachi musicians opened fire with pistols and rifles, injuring eight and sending onlookers running and screaming. The incident left three men and two women dead, city officials said.
Homicides have surged since 2014 in Mexico City, an arts, food and culture hot spot for tourists from around the globe that has been spared much of the drug violence plaguing cartel strongholds, which has even hit resort towns Cancun, Los Cabos and Acapulco.