Canadian Tourist Killed, 13 Injured in Shooting at Teotihuacan Pyramids

It was just after 11:30 in the morning on April 20, 2026, and dozens of tourists were making their way up and down the Pyramid of the Moon at the Teotihuacan archaeological site - one of Mexico’s most visited landmarks, located about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. Then the gunfire started.

A man standing on the pyramid’s platform began shooting. Some tourists threw themselves face down on the stone steps. Others lay motionless, hoping not to be seen. Those who could move began scrambling down. A tour guide working the site told the Associated Press he heard the first shots at 11:30, then watched the gunman move across the platform as visitors tried to descend.

By the time it was over, one woman was dead - a Canadian tourist whose name has not been publicly released - and at least 13 others had been injured. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was identified by a state official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity, as Julio Cesar Jasso, 27, a Mexican national.

Who Was There

Among those taken to hospital were six Americans, two Brazilians, two Colombians, one Russian, and a second Canadian, according to the State of Mexico government. Seven people were treated for gunshot wounds. Others sustained injuries from falls while fleeing. One person was treated for an anxiety attack. By Monday evening, eight people remained hospitalized.

Mexico’s security cabinet confirmed the shooting in a statement posted to social media shortly after the attack, noting that a firearm, a bladed weapon, and live cartridges had been recovered at the scene. State and federal security forces, including a National Guard unit, were deployed to the site. The Teotihuacan archaeological zone was closed until further notice.

Canada’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that one of its citizens was killed and another was wounded. The name of the Canadian woman who died has not been released.

A Site Visited by Millions

Teotihuacan is not simply a tourist attraction. It is one of the largest and most significant pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that drew more than 1.8 million international visitors in 2025 alone. The pyramids - including the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon - rise above an ancient city that, at its height, was among the largest urban centers on earth.

For the people who were there on Monday morning, it was the kind of place people travel across the world to see. Ontarian Daniel Edwards, who was at the site when the shooting unfolded, described the chaos to CBC News as the sounds of gunfire echoed off the stone structures around him.

Mexico is co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside the United States and Canada, with the tournament expected to draw millions of international visitors in the months ahead. The attack at Teotihuacan drew immediate attention to the security of major cultural and tourist sites in a country where Global Affairs Canada already advises travelers to exercise a high degree of caution due to criminal activity.

“What Happened Today Deeply Hurts Us”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the attack Monday afternoon, saying she had instructed authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and that she was in contact with the Canadian Embassy. “What happened today in Teotihuacan deeply hurts us,” Sheinbaum said. “I express my most sincere solidarity with the people affected and their families.”

Mexico State Governor Delfina Gomez Alvarez confirmed that state security personnel would maintain an increased presence at the site. No motive for the attack has been established. The identity of the shooter, Julio Cesar Jasso, was not confirmed through official public channels as of Monday evening, and authorities have not released information about what may have prompted the violence.

A Place That Should Have Been Safe

Teotihuacan receives school groups and families and retirees and travelers from every corner of the world. People climb the pyramids in the morning sun and take photographs and buy handmade jewelry from vendors along the Avenue of the Dead. On Monday, some of them lay flat on ancient stone, waiting for the shooting to stop.

The Canadian woman who was killed had traveled to one of the most extraordinary places on earth. She did not come home. For the families of those still hospitalized, and for the tourists who fled down the pyramid steps, the site that was supposed to be the highlight of a trip became something else entirely - a place where the most ordinary kind of terrible thing happened in an extraordinary place.

References: Gunman at Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramids kills Canadian woman, injures others | Gunman opens fire at Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramids, killing Canadian and injuring others