1 month ago
3
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A tourer from New York who was visiting Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny's residency was fatally changeable aboriginal Sunday astatine La Perla, a fashionable seaside shantytown, constabulary said.
The unfortunate was identified arsenic Kevin Mares, a 25-year-old, according to a constabulary statement.
The shooting happened successful the predawn hours astatine a nightspot called "Shelter for Mistreated Men" successful La Perla, a coastal assemblage that has struggled to shed its acheronian reputation.
Homicide detective Sgt. Arnaldo Ruiz said successful a telephone interrogation that the shooting took spot erstwhile respective radical adjacent Mares began arguing and 1 pulled retired a weapon and changeable astatine slightest 3 people, including Mares. Two different men who unrecorded successful La Perla were injured and stay hospitalized.
Ruiz said Mares was an guiltless bystander. He was with 3 different friends who told constabulary they were successful Puerto Rico for 1 of Bad Bunny's 30 concerts, which person attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the U.S. territory.
Mares was changeable connected the near broadside of his abdomen and was taken to Puerto Rico's largest nationalist hospital, wherever helium died, authorities said.
Ruiz said constabulary don't yet cognize what the radical were arguing astir and don't person a statement of the shooter. "We person precise small information," helium said.
Ruiz added that Mares' 3 friends besides were from New York. He didn't person their hometowns.
La Perla is located connected the outskirts of a historical territory fashionable with tourists known arsenic Old San Juan. A mates 100 radical unrecorded successful the shantytown, which erstwhile served arsenic Puerto Rico's biggest organisation constituent for heroin and was known for its violence.
Police utilized to debar the community, which utilized to person a motion proclaiming, "Not unfastened to visitors. Do not enter."
But unit eased erstwhile hundreds of national agents raided the slum successful 2011 and arrested dozens of people, including a well-known assemblage person who was aboriginal convicted.
An aerial presumption of the seaside vicinity of La Perla, successful San Juan, Puerto Rico, is seen connected Aug. 25, 2017.
AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File
The vicinity became adjacent safer and much welcoming aft Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featured it successful their hit, "Despacito."
But isolated, convulsive incidents persist.
In February 2023, 3 tourists were stabbed aft constabulary said a idiosyncratic told them to halt filming wrong the community.
Then successful April 2024, a 24-year-old tourer from Delaware was killed and his assemblage acceptable connected occurrence aft constabulary said helium and a person were attacked pursuing a cause purchase. Police said the victims were trying to instrumentality pictures of La Perla aft being warned not to bash so.
The land of 3.2 cardinal radical has reported 277 killings truthful acold this year, compared with 325 killings successful the aforesaid play past year.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
