US Teen Died in Mexican Shooting, Stampede

Denver's Alejandra Villanueva Ibarra one of 5 killed
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2017 9:27 AM CST
US Teen Died in Mexican Shooting, Stampede
Alejandra Villanueva Ibarra   (GoFundMe)

An American is among the five dead after a shooting and stampede in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Monday. Alejandra Villanueva Ibarra of Denver "fell" while trying to escape the Blue Parrot nightclub during a BPM electronic music festival, the Denver Post reports via a GoFundMe page set up by Ibarra's brother. ABC News reports the 18-year-old was "hit," and Ignacio Valencia of Houston, who was shot in the arms, says he was with her when she died. "I was just in shock and I just couldn't move," he says. "Her last words to me [were], 'I don't feel anything. I don't feel anything.'" Like her brother, Valencia describes Ibarra as a provider for her single mother and two younger siblings who was studying to become a teacher.

No other details about Ibarra's death have been released. The four other victims have been identified as Rafael Penaloza Vega and Geovanni Ruiz Murillo, both of Mexico; BPM staff member Daniel Pessina of Italy; and Canadian Kirk Wilson, a 49-year-old security officer and father of two, per the AP. Officials say fifteen others were injured, including four Americans. Eight have now been released from hospital. It isn't clear who among them was shot or trampled. The gunman—who officials say entered the club and began exchanging gunfire with another person—is believed to have escaped. However, three people were arrested near the club after another shooting; officials are trying to determine if the two shootings were related. (More Mexico stories.)

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