| | |  Americas & Beyond | January 2009 
Two Canadians Shot in Mexico
 Tiffany Crawford - The Calgary Herald
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 |  | The two men have been identified as Donguyen Nintrung, 26, and Michel Brehan Spowe, 28. |  | | |
Foreign Affairs confirmed Thursday that two Canadians were shot in a nightclub in the Mexican tourist hot spot of Cabo San Lucas Tuesday.
As is its custom, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade did not release the names of the two Canadians, however local Mexican media reported that one of them is in hospital in critical condition.
"Consular officials in San Jose Del Cabo and Mexico City were informed of the shooting of two Canadians in a nightclub of Cabo San Lucas," said Foreign Affairs spokesman Daniel Barbarie, in an e-mail to Canwest News Service.
"Officials are in contact with Mexican authorities, the hospital and the victims' families." The two Canadians were shot in a topless bar called Mermaids at about 1:30 a.m. local time, the Tribuna de Los Cabos reported. One Canadian, a 26-year-old from Vancouver, underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the neck and remains in critical condition, the newspaper reported. The second, a 28-year-old Canadian was in stable condition after being treated for gunshot wounds to the throat and leg, said the report.
Names of the Canadians have not been confirmed.
The newspaper said the two Canadians were sitting at a table along with a U.S. tourist when a man, who had ordered a beer in the bar, approached their table, pulled out a gun and fired.
The newspaper said Mexican authorities had yet to track down a suspect and the motive for the shooting was unknown. Police are currently reviewing footage from security cameras in the area to identify the gunman who fled the scene after also shooting a security guard at the bar.
The newspaper said the two Canadians arrived in Cabo San Lucas on Dec. 28 and were scheduled to leave on Jan. 7.
While there is no official travel warning from Foreign Affairs, Mexico is getting a reputation as being a dangerous place to travel for Canadians.
Last May, a 29-year-old Canadian man was shot and killed at a Cabo San Lucas hotel after what Mexican authorities said was botched robbery. Bouabal Bounthavorn was identified as the victim. Mexican police say a lone gunman shot the victim three times in the head while his girlfriend Masha Heikali, 24, was shot in one foot.
Prior to that shooting, local police blamed "falling from balconies" for three separate deaths in less than a year.
In January 2008, Mexican police said Josh Iwasiuk, 19, of Selkirk, Man., fell to his death from the 10th-floor balcony at a Puerto Vallarta resort after climbing over a chest-high railing. But his family said he only suffered trauma to his head.
Iwasiuk's death followed the November 2007 death of Alberta resident Christopher Morin, who allegedly fell from a fourth-floor balcony in Cancun.
Six months earlier, Jeff Toews, 34, of Grande Prairie, Alta., died at a Cancun resort.
Authorities said he fell, but his family said he was attacked. He was found lying on the ground with severe head injuries.
In January 2007, Glifford Glasier of Chatham, Ont., was killed in Guadalajara in a hit-and-run incident.
Adam De Prisco, 19, of Woodbridge, Ont., was killed in Acapulco in February 2007. His family says he was beaten to death, but Mexican authorities say he was struck and killed by a car.
A week later, Ontario residents Rita Calara, 55 and Yoyo Manela, 73, received non-life threatening injuries when they were shot at a hotel, also in Acapulco.
In 2006, Domenic and Nancy Ianiero were found murdered, their throats slit, in their room at a resort in the Mayan Riviera.
A Foreign Affairs report obtained by Canwest News Service found that almost twice as many Canadians were assaulted in Mexico than in any other foreign country this decade.
In seven years, Foreign Affairs missions in Mexico logged 172 reports of violence against Canadian travellers.
With files from the National Post and Jorge Barrera |
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