A festive street gathering to honour St John the Baptist descended into horror late Tuesday night in the Mexican city of Irapuato, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the crowd, leaving twelve people dead and scores injured. The assault is the latest in a string of violent attacks that have gripped the central state of Guanajuato.
Videos circulated online showed panic-stricken revellers fleeing amid a barrage of gunfire. The community event, marked by dancing and music, turned into a bloodbath in seconds.
Local official Rodolfo Gómez Cervantes, addressing a press conference on Wednesday, confirmed the toll. “The number of victims had risen to 12. Some 20 others were wounded,” he said.
The motives for the attack remain under investigation, though the pattern of violence aligns with Guanajuato’s grim reputation as one of Mexico’s most turbulent states, plagued by battles between rival criminal syndicates vying for territorial control.
President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed sorrow over the incident and assured the public that authorities were probing the attack. “It is under investigation,” she said briefly in Mexico City, without offering further details.
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This is not the first time a public celebration has been targeted in the region. In May, seven people were killed in a shooting at a party organised by the Catholic Church in San Bartolo de Berrios, also located in Guanajuato.
The frequency and brazenness of such attacks have alarmed residents and drawn criticism of local law enforcement. Through the first five months of 2025 alone, the state has recorded 1,435 homicides, a figure more than twice that of any other Mexican state, according to official data.
Located northwest of the capital, Guanajuato has emerged as a battleground for cartels including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Santa Rosa de Lima group. Their clashes over territory, fuel theft routes, and drug operations have turned towns like Irapuato into sites of recurrent carnage.
While officials continue to assess the extent of the damage from the latest shooting, civil society groups and clergy have renewed calls for greater security around religious and cultural events, warning that public life itself is now under siege.
With no arrests reported as of Wednesday evening, tension hangs heavy over the affected neighbourhood, and the city mourns another mass casualty event in a region all too familiar with grief.
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