Smoke filled the sky as the swanky beach town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, erupted into chaos Sunday after the government killed a drug kingpin.
Shops and cars were set ablaze, allegedly by cartel members. Tourists and residents cowered in fear.
The Mexican military killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known by his nickname “El Mencho,” the head of the New Generation drug cartel, Sunday in a shoot-out 180 miles east of Puerto Vallarta, in the same state of Jalisco. Mexico had a $15 million reward for his capture.
A day after the violence broke out, streets are deserted Monday as locals and tourists heed remain-in-place orders. Schools in several states canceled classes, The Associated Press reported.
Burned-out shells of vehicles remained on the streets, while damaged stores were heavily scorched from flames, videos showed.
“We saw the taxicabs all blown up and blocking the streets and people running down and towards us,” Jim Beck, an American tourist who sheltered in his Puerto Vallarta hotel, told NBC's “TODAY” show. “After this morning was the first time we actually felt fear.”
Marcus Brady, a Chicago resident currently in Puerto Vallarta, shared videos of the violence with NBC News. He said he thought the cartel’s intent was to send a message to the Mexican government and American and Canadian tourists that, “If we want to, we will take complete control of everything and everyone here, no one can stop us.”
He said the violence happened in two waves starting early Sunday morning. First, a few cars were set on fire on the main road and bridges in and out of the Zona Romántica area of Puerto Vallarta, he said, with much of that taking place in an area behind foothills.
“When those fires were going out, everyone thought it was over. I know I did. So many of us thought it OK to venture out and I decided to walk down to the boardwalk, through the zone,” Brady said.
But the second wave was the worst, targeted inside the zone, he said. Brady said he mistook buses and taxis positioned at intersections as barricades to prevent violence, but they had been put there by the cartel during the night. “And when the second wave started, they coordinated setting them on fire, so it would last all day. The intention was to terrify,” he said.
A video from KXAS in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, showed several cars in the parking lot of a Costco set ablaze.
Yoni Pizer told NBC Chicago that he, his husband and friends had to run for their lives to escape what he said were members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Puerto Vallarta.
“The gunmen were following us and they were shooting,” Pizer said. “And they were attacking cars and pulling out drivers. At that point, we just ran as fast as we could.” His SUV was torched, but a passerby helped them get away.
Video on social media from Sunday showed sirens blaring and passengers and workers running through the airport in Puerto Vallarta. It was unclear why the sirens went off or why people were running. Images showed a long line of people hiding behind ticket counters.
Road closures affected some travelers’ ability to get to airports, according to U.S. and Mexican embassy and consulate officials.
Steven Polito, a drag performer who divides his time between New York City and Puerto Vallarta, said in an essay for Business Insider that he was struck by how "unusually quiet it was" when he went to gym at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
"When I left around 10:00 a.m., it was a very different scene," Polito said. "Everyday life was juxtaposed against horrendous property against horrendous property damage. There was an older woman sweeping leaves in the street, while burned-out car after burned-out car was in flames."
Over at the Guadalajara International Airport, officials said the violence in the nearby cities did not affect their operations. It said social media reports did not reflect what was happening at the airport.
But the violence was not confined to Puerto Vallarta.
Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, appeared deserted Sunday night as civilians hunkered down. Authorities later announced they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states.
Omar Casillas was running a half marathon, about to cross the finish line when things became chaotic. He began getting texts from his family telling him to “barricade the door, pack all your stuff, be ready to leave if you need to, if you have the chance to,” NBC Chicago reported.
Casillas’ flight out of Guadalajara’s airport was canceled.
A video posted online shows a customs booth in Reynosa, Mexico, about 5 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, filled with flames and smoke.
