It was a chaotic scene inside Cancun International Airport following reports of gunshots on March 28.
In a video posted by Twitter user No9fine, travelers are seen running and appearing to take cover.
“Get down, get down,” you hear a woman telling the person filming the video as she cries in search of her cousin.
#cancunairport !!! Praying me and my cousins make it back home safe pic.twitter.com/HhlmO07g6p
— .999 (@no9fine) March 28, 2022
“We’re good now. We were checking in for our flight and I guess it was an active shooter on the airport grounds,” said Twitter user, No9fine. “Everybody started running over each other and ducking and dropping their suitcases.”
We good. We don’t know if we’ll be able to go home tonight. But all in all I’m just posting for awareness, Mexico don’t gotta worry bout me no mo!
— .999 (@no9fine) March 28, 2022
Another traveler by the name of thetarafeed , tweeted about a huge stampede in the airport’s Terminal 3.
Shooting at cancun airport. Huge stampede in terminal 3 about 20 mins ago. We hid in the c14 tunnel connecting the airport and the plane. Was told it’s safe now… everyone is just waiting for an update pic.twitter.com/LxRhfe8Q52
— tara (@thetarafeed) March 28, 2022
Some travelers reportedly ran onto planes to escape the possible active shooter.
Cancun airport ‘shooting’ aftermath. Passengers ran onto planes, into bathrooms, into kitchens, and any cranny that felt safe. pic.twitter.com/bLjtqLHq8R
— T.L.W. (@TimothyLeeStyle) March 28, 2022
Following the frightening incident, traveler No9fine took to Twitter with a follow-up. According to the Twitter user, there may have been multiple explosions that prompted the disarray.
**** it was actually an explosion that happened twice … Mexico still don’t gotta worry about me.
— .999 (@no9fine) March 28, 2022
Police, who initially responded to the reports of gunfire, say there was no evidence of gunshots or an explosion.
“All authorities […] are working to find the causes of the multiple versions around the Cancun Airport,” Lucio Hernandez Gutierrez, the police chief of Quintana Roo, stated on Twitter.
He adds that there were “no signs of detonations or explosions of any kind.”
Actualización
El Grupo de Coordinación Estatal para la Construcción de Paz y Seguridad en Quintana Roo informa que con relación a la supuesta amenaza de presunto artefacto al interior de la Universidad Tecnológica de Cancún, se integraron equipos interinstitucionales 1/2 pic.twitter.com/8xYNAMi3rY
— Grupo de Coordinación Quintana Roo (@GrupoQroo) March 17, 2022
The Mexican National Guard believes the sounds travelers heard may have been caused by someone accidentally knocking three signs to the ground.
Increased Violence Around Tourists
It’s not shocking that anxiety would be high while traveling to the tourist hot spot. This incident comes just months after gunmen on jet skis began shooting at a Cancun beach – causing individuals to run for their lives and take cover.
“There were two guys and maybe even a third, who came in on jet skis, and what I saw was them shooting up into the sky. I did not see any shots coming in toward the shoreline,” recalled tourist Rick Lebassa.
RELATED: Tourists Run For Cover As Gunmen On Jet Skis Shoot At Cancun Beach
Prior to the jetski incident, two tourists were killed during what authorities call a gang-related shootout in Tulum in October 2021. Anjali Ryot, a travel blogger from San Jose, California, and Jennifer Henzold of Germany died as a result of being shot. Three other tourists were also injured in the shootout.
