Cozumel, Q.R. — UPDATED: An ambulance was called to help a Cozumel taxi driver who was shot inside an island restaurant Friday. However, by the time the ambulance arrived, the man had died.
The shooing happened around 11:15 p.m. inside an island restaurant Friday night where he was eating. The Cozumel taxi driver, identified only as Hector “N”, was the target of the late night shooting that left him dead.
A gunman opened fire against his target inside a restaurant located between Rafael E. Melgar Avenue between 10th and 12th Street in the Centro neighborhood. Paramedics were seen leaving the restaurant with an empty stretcher after confirming the shooting victim had died.
On Friday night, authorities implemented a search operation on the island’s boardwalk following the report of a man shot inside an island restaurant. Restaurant witnesses report seeing an armed man enter the restaurant alone and on foot. He walked toward the table where the taxi driver was sitting and began shooting at the diner.
There are reports that a young child of around 2 or 3 was injured in a foot as a result of stray bullets. Local authorities have not commented on the Friday night restaurant shooting.
UPDATE: Saturday night, local authorities reported on the shooting that left one man dead inside a Cozumel restaurant. In a statement, the State Attorney General said the shooting of the Cozumel taxi driver is drug related (drug dealing) and that they are investigating the criminal activity of other family members dating back to a murder in 2021.
“The State Attorney General’s Office reports that following the events that occurred in the early hours of January 3 of this year in a restaurant in this municipality in which a male person was deprived of his life, we opened an investigation to clarify these events and find the person or persons responsible, in order to bring them to justice.
“According to initial investigations, a taxi driver was in an establishment located on Rafael E. Melgar Avenue, in the Centro neighborhood, when he was attacked, which unfortunately resulted in his death. Agents from this Social Representation arrived at the scene to initiate the corresponding procedure.
“It is worth noting that previous criminal activities of immediate family members are being analyzed, one of whom was killed in 2021. The first line of investigation suggests that the homicide mentioned is related to crimes against health, in the form of drug dealing.
‘One victim in this homicide, a minor, was injured and taken to a hospital for medical attention; her health condition is reported as stable and out of danger. Staff of this autonomous body, in collaboration with authorities from the three levels of government, will continue with the investigations to clarify the facts.”
