A gay couple was walking through a park early in the morning in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when they say a stranger pulled out a gun and shot at them, hitting one man.
Carl Blea is a Palm Springs real estate agent who was vacationing with his husband, Marc Lange, in the city known for its bustling LGBTQ scene.
Around 2:30 am after a night out, Blea and Lange were walking through a public park holding hands when they say a man yelled something at them.
Blea saw the man reach for a gun and the couple ran, but the man fired and Blea was struck in the back of the leg.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Lange and Blea believe they were targeted for being gay.
In an emotional Facebook post, Lange says “we were involved in nothing more than a hate crime,” adding that it was “a random act of hatred.”
They’re speaking out because they feel authorities are attempting to keep the attack quiet so as not to negatively affect tourism.
The Desert Sun reports that the local news mentions a robbery attempt and an altercation between the gunman and the couple that preceded the shooting.
Lange says both points are false.
“We never uttered a word to (the gunman),” he said.
He added on Facebook:
“This was not a robbery went bad. It was a hate crime as Carl Blea and I were walking hand in hand. We never spoke to the man who shot us. He yelled at us and then pulled out a gun and shot at us. This is not correct. We told 3 different set of police officials the same story. There were no witnesses, the street was empty.”
This video was taken just after the shooting when Blea was receiving care from paramedics:
Balean a un turista en el Parque Lázaro Cárdenas
TURISTA FUE BALEADO EN EL PARQUE LÁZARO CÁRDENAS* Durante la madrugada de hoy sábado, Iban dos turistas extranjeros caminandos sobre el parque Lázaro Cárdenas, cuando de pronto, les salió al paso un delincuente que intentó asaltarlos. Empezaron a discutir y fue cuando el sujeto le disparó a uno de ellos en la pierna derecha. El joven quedó tirado en la banqueta y su compañero pedía el auxilio. Fue un agente de seguridad privada quien observó los hechos y pedió ayuda al 911.#Entérate #NoticiasPV #PuertoVallarta #Jalisco
Posted by Noticias Puerto Vallarta on Saturday, March 24, 2018
Here’s the full statement Lange wrote via Facebook:
I post this only because there has been no local press or alerts made to the puerto Vallarta area.
Last night we were involved in nothing more than a hate crime.
Last night my husband and I were walking home hand in hand from an evening out in puerto Vallarta. As we cross the street walking into a well lite area, Cardenas Lazaro park, we pass a white car and a person who looked like he had done hard time in prison, wife beater and tattoos both face and body (circle tattoo on right side of face). As we walk pass him he shouts something. I turn to look and then turn away, Carl Blea looks and see this person pull out a gun which is now pointed at us. Carl begins to run and pulls me away from the shooter. A bullet is shot and Carl goes down. Shot. We have no idea what is happening. A concrete building separates us from the shooter. I scream for help….. someone finally helps, police arrive, 45 min later the ambulance arrives.
This person was there for no other reason than to kill innocent people. We happened to be his target. There is nothing in the local newspaper or news warning people of this incident. Please share with anyone who is there.
Please….
I post this only because there has been no local press or alerts made to the puerto Vallarta area. Last night we were…
Posted by Marc Lange on Saturday, March 24, 2018
Update: A statement put out by the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board and emailed to Queerty reads in part:
“We stand in solidarity with the members of our local LGBT community and condemn any acts of crime. As a community, we take all incidents involving visitors very seriously and we have all been taken by surprise by this incident as it is not normal in Puerto Vallarta, said Javier Aranda, Director of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board. “We, along with the police, and authorities across local, state and federal government have been monitoring this situation and have been in direct contact with the LGBT associations and leaders of the destination.”
Puerto Vallarta remains one of the safest destinations for the LGBTQ visitor, not only in Mexico, but on an international level. These types of incidents are rare and extremely isolated. Last year, more than 17,000 LGBTQ international visitors came to Puerto Vallarta for Vallarta Pride alone, without incident. It is estimated that, in general, about 20% of visitors to Puerto Vallarta, specifically in the city’s Romantic Zone, are part of the LGBTQ community and safely enjoy the destination, again without any incident.
Puerto Vallarta is a welcoming and friendly city.”
Brian
Can we please not have the usual suspects say that they were asking for it because they shouldn’t have been in a park that late at night doing something gay? They were just walking home.
Mandrake
I’d be curious if they were walking through Playa de Muerte which is the gay district of Puerta Vallarta or another more conservative area. Having been there, I found the gay district rather safe at all hours of the night. However, there are areas that are the exact opposite, and I’d never be in them, even with friends at 2:30am, gay OR straight.
fur_hunter
Mandrake is correct. I have been to Puerto Vallarta as I live in Mexico, down the coast from Puerto Vallarta. What is NOT in the report is that the only reason someone is out in a park at 2:30 in the morning is because they are doing a DRUG DEAL! Get it? I don’t condone the shooting but it is obvious the deal did not go down right and someone got shot. Sorry to be a bummer here but when folks do drugs, you sometimes get hit with $H!T. Drugs is the ONLY reason ANYONE would be out in a park at 2:30 in the morning.
cavasa22
Hi there, I’m mexican, and I’ve been to Puerto Vallarta several times. First, you have to be very careful there, the police is corrupt and they’ll try to rob you anytime. If you make any romantic demonstration between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, they’ll attack you and acuse you of immoral exposure and indecency. This happened to me once with an old boyfriend I had at the time, we were comming out of a bar and he kissed me, just three or four meters outside the bar and suddenly we were surrounded by six or eight police men who were threatening us with jail. Fortunally I could talk my way out of it (and some money of course).
jsmu
‘Mandrake’–news flash: HATE crime, not regular crime. Nice attempt to justify homophobic hatred, troll. I see by your other comment you’re obviously a Rethug dRUMPfzoid as well 🙂
Evji108
2 gay guys cruising the park at 2:30 AM. It can be risky.
iron
the white car.was it a rental or a beat up.
had any prior business deals upset anyone
hope this is of help
Mandrake
Of course he will, and head straight into California where his crimes will be protected.
fur_hunter
Let me say this about this event. I do not condone the shooting….BUT…….I live in Mexico, down the coast south of Puerto Vallarta. I have been to Puerto Vallarta. The ONLY reason you are in a park at 2:30 in the morning is because you are doing DRUGS! Get it? Something went wrong with the drug deal and he got shot. Sorry. That’s not in the story but that is what happened. They are not the innocent ones they pretend to be. NO ONE is out in a park in Mexico at 2:30 in the morning unless you are up to NO GOOD. Sorry.
ChrisK
I don’t know how Puerto Vallarta is but I was recently in Cancun. You don’t dare venture out after dark outside the resort. The cops all travel around in groups with their M16 rifles.
barkomatic
The gay bars are still open in Puerto Vallarta at 2:30 am so it’s possible they were just going home. Lazaro Cardenas park, for example, is very close to the gay areas and they could have just been walking back to their hotel.
It’s also possible drugs were involved but your statement that the *only* reason they were in the area was for drugs is incorrect. I was in Puerto Vallarta this past February and walked around at night and I wasn’t looking for drugs.
darren michaels
HUH.!!
Your making an assumption and doing what so often ends up occurring in reports like this, creating an alternate story when that is not what was suggested at all.
Immediately assuming that anyone was doing a drug deal is an uninformed guess. Why is it not possible to just be walking home after a night out without having to create a whole alternate scenario.? Far too often excuses, which are assumptions, which are your uninformed guess is based on your own understanding and your own potential personal activities. You have offered a reason for what has occurred created from what you might have been doing at that time of night. But no matter what an individual is doing, concern for one’s life no matter what the event should not have to be a constant concern.
2:30 is hardly an unreasonable time to be walking home. If they are on vacation and spent an evening going for dinner or whatever they might have been doing immediately assuming they were part of a drug deal gone bad for the sake of offering a justification for why this occurred is irresponsible.
fur_hunter
OK…..Maybe I was too pointed in my comment. But in so many cases down here when this happens, it eventually turns out to be a drug deal gone wrong. Again, I am not condoning the shooting. Most gays that visit Mexico should know or should have done their homework, NOT to be out in an unknown place that time of the morning. It’s like walking down some dark alley in New York City at 2 in the morning and not expect to get mugged. Have I made my point?
LAMatt
Fur_hunter What is it that gives you particular insight? It MUST be that you are a former DRUG DEALER/USER. Get it?
You are correct that “something went wrong” – two guys who love each other were walking home from the bars at 2:30 in the morning (like people on vacation often do) through Lazaro Cardenas park and were SHOT! Say it with me- “SHOT”. It took the Mexican police 45 min to respond. When they did- they called it a “robbery”. This way the GAY $$ continue to be spent even tho it not safe for gays.
So please, keep your uneducated absolutions to yourself.
Marc and Carl- my thoughts are with you. Come home safe.
krflaguna
I know these people for over 15 years. They were not doing drugs and were not cruising the park. They went down to PV to celebrate Marc’s birthday so they were out having a good time.
Juanjo
I do not know that this couple was out buying drugs but I do know that park and I have passed through that area late at night. It is not unusual for there to be drug dealers and prostitutes in that area as well as other low lifes looking for a quick way to make a little money. They see a tourist walking through there, they are going to assume that the tourist is inebriated and is an easy mark. The park is not that big but that time of night it is not good to be out walking around anywhere. That is true just about anywhere in the world.
Zakaroo
I totally agree with barkomatic and krflaguna. I have a timeshare in Puerta Vallarta and go there all the time and have a lot of fun dancing at the gay bars until closing. Why don’t you believe those who tell their stories? Why would they lie? If they were involved in a drug deal, they would have just gotten some medical help and shut up. krflaguna has known them and confirms that they are not drug users. Barkomatic supports my experience of walking back with my boyfriend to a taxi stand to get a ride back to my timeshare and taken a long way home just talking and walking and discussing the evening in a “well-lit” area. I believe their story, because it can happen in broad daylight anywhere, much less at night. Now, reading this, I will be more careful after leaving a gay dance club in the future and make a beeline to the taxis and go home. Yes, hate and violence can happen anywhere, especially these days when life seems so cheap and random shootings are the “thing” of the day. My sympathies go out to this couple and thank God no one was hurt more seriously or killed. As a gay man reading all this BS, can I ask “why all of this mean-spirited speculation and excuses?” Like the “me too” movement for violated women, can’t we gays just believe our brothers and realize that we are still targets for so many and give our friends some TLC, support, compassion, and love. Enuf said!! All you accusers who I see on this site all the time bitching and speculating about everything just take your troll-ness and go home. Stop writing. You all are so predictable and boring anymore.
JerseyMike
Mexico has had 202 LGBT people killed in just a three year period. Why do we continue to give them our money when they don’t try to protect us. Gays going to Mexico is like chickens walking pass KFC..
ChrisK
Ha. Well, I agree but I still want to return to Mexico. Beautiful beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. Of coarse I’ll never step outside of the resorts unless it’s a guided tour and daytime.
Kangol
You do realize that the number of LGBT people killed in the US rose by a sizable amount in 2016, and again in 2017, right? So far over these two years, 135 LGBTQ people have been killed. We can ask the question about the US, why don’t they try to protect us?
hoosier1969
As stated this park is in the Zona Romantica..the gay section of PV. I have walked by it very late at night on my way back from bars. As I do in any city late at night I was very aware of who was around me and did not make eye contact with anyone on the streets. All I was looking to do was get back to my hotel at Playa Los Muertos. I did so safely. I also wonder if this was some sort of a deal gone bad. The area also has a lot of hustlers.
Nic
I live across the street and staff members in my building saw this. According to them, the victims were caught in the crossfire between drug dealers. Apparently the local cartel forbids drug sales in the park, recognizing the necessity of presenting a wholesome image for the tourists, and this was an inforcement of that policy. It’s Santa Semana (Holy Week) here and Mexicans from all over the country are here this week so concensus among the staff is that this was a dealer from outside the area who was unaware of the local cartel’s proscription.
yaletownman
Interesting especially since your story is coming from eye witnesses. My husband and I have been seriously contemplating putting an offer in on a condo as we love Puerto Vallarta and have always felt safe. This article has created cause for hesitation,
GREGORY909
It’s great to be free to express yourself. But Puerto Vallarta has a small gay area, walking through any park in the US including Palm Springs is not safe at 230 AM. I know they were on vacation, but this was poor judgement on the part of the victims.
Hussain-TheCanadian
I dropped my plans for visiting Mexico when police, gang members, and lord knows who else were targeting, robbing, and murdering Canadian tourists.
I so want to visit the Mayan temples, pyramids, and ruins – really its too bad.
Juanjo
It is unfortunate you feel that way. I have many Canadian friends who come down every year and spend the winter in Puerto Vallarta. Sometimes we go to Guadalajara or other places. I have never had an issue of any type in the 22 years I have been doing this. And you really should see those ruins. They are pretty spectacular.
Hussain-TheCanadian
@Juanjo
I really dont want to feel this way Juanjo, Mexico is such a beautiful country and I would love to visit/explore, especially its ancient heritage sites/ruins. Friends of mine visit Mexico annually as well, and they always ask me to join them, life interferes unfortunately and I never go.
Maybe I need to overcome my fears and just go, no country is a 100% safe anyways.
vancouverdoug
If you are gay and visiting Puerto Vallarta, you go through this area about 20 times in a week. I have gone through there at 3am coming home and I am not there for a drug deal. Of course it is very concerning to have gun violence, but I actually feel safer in PV than I do going to the US.
cagex78
Reading a few of the comments, they are clearly with extreme prejudice in the absence of being present or fully aware of the individuals’ circumstances.
By default, certain individuals have decided to dump the victim into the category of drug dealer or user. Again, extreme prejudice. Gays in a park… again… really? Horrible stigma.
Is any city or town perfectly safe at 2:30 AM? Probably not. Feel free to provide a reference to statistics to reflect otherwise from a reliable source.
I was in PV that night. I was out and about that night. About 15 mins earlier, did I feel safe walking from Flamingos, passed the exact same park to the condo I had rented which was located on Pilitas… absolutely not. Should I have taken a better route… ABSOLUTELY. Did I see one cop on my walk? Absolutely NOT.
So instead of discrediting individuals you know nothing about…. who have respectable careers… friends… family… and luckily… lives to live beyond this experience… why don’t you focus on whether or not you are perceived as a good person… that you can stand on a soapbox as the perfect citizen…
Reading some of the comments… I would struggle to think so.
Juanjo
So I have owned a condo in Puerto Vallarta since 1996. I am there every year. Now I live up the hill a couple blocks behind the church downtown but all the gay venues are down in the Zona Romantica. I have made that walk numerous times at all hours of day or night. Lazaro Cardenas park is in the center of the Zona Romantica just steps from bar, clubs, condo and hotel buildings and other tourist venues. Anyone who lives in Puerto Vallarta knows that late at night there are always people in the park using/buying drugs or offering a little friendship for the night. I have never heard of any cartel deal concerning drug sales in the park but I am certain that territory is staked out by very specific people.
I have always told people leaving the clubs very late at night that it is worth the five dollars to take a taxi rather than walk. It is not unusual for a drunk tourist to wander into the park and get rolled by a young man or woman offering their bodies for rent. Two straight guys, brothers in their 20s, staying in my building were down there late at night and were robbed in exactly the same area.
Now I am NOT saying these guys were in the park to buy drugs or buy some company. They could have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But absent any evidence this guy who shot at them was yelling homophobic slurs at them, there is no evidence of a hate crime. And honestly, would you wander through a park in Palm Springs at 2:30 am?
masterwill7
How is it possible that I hear many people saying that you can’t walk down a parc at night??? Is it criminals everywhere in the USA/Mexico? You can walk every parc here in Holland? Also Spain or Italy, noooo problemo.. Sad for these guys that they had to go through something so horrible just walking through a parc..! Unbelievable.!
chris33133
While locals and people who often visit those sites know and understand what is safe to do; I’d suggest that any tourist stay away from Mexico until things improve. To wit, until Mexico get its cartels and corruption under control and until people can “make a mistake” and not have to pay with their lives, go elsewhere.
barkomatic
I find it amusing the way in which people are reacting to this single shooting in Mexico, yet high school and college kids get gunned down regularly in their own schools in the U.S. Or, your coworker goes nuts and guns down everyone at work.
Yet we shouldn’t visit Mexico because a guy got shot in the leg in a tourist area that is *usually* safe. It’s terrible and I’m sure this couple was absolutely terrified but I think some of us need a dose of perspective. Somehow gun violence in our country is acceptable — because it’s our gun violence.
To echo your statement, perhaps people should stop visiting the U.S. until things improve and gets its corruption under control.
Tednm
Everyone keeps commenting about this happening at 2:30 AM. I wonder how different the assumptions and speculations would be if the time had been different. I have never been to Puerto Vallarta but I was in Mexico City last November and felt safe at all hours of the day and night. Granted I stayed in Zona Roma, gay friendly, and went to Zona Rosa, the gay area. Truth is, any city can be dangerous including many US cities.
dwes09
Mexico city is incredible, if a bit intimidating by its size. One of the most cosmopolitan places in the world and very much like New York in the breadth of culture, food, people watching, museums, parks and general excitement it offers.
The areas to stay away from are the coastal cities and the northern cities that have descended into anarchy as gangs vie for the business of filling OUR AMERICAN DESIRE for illegal drugs. They are not forcing them on us, the free market is fueling the gangs and cartels, and OUR law enforcement and politicians look the other way for very obvious reasons.
jorgecruz
I have been to Puerto Vallarta many times. Who has to go to a park late at night to get drugs? They walk the beaches with small pipes filled with pot that you can buy. In maybe half the bars I have regularly been offered drugs I could buy from the cocktail waiters or strippers. There may be more to this story but its hard to believe that they had to go to a dangerous spot in PV to get drugs if they wanted them.
Kangol
These days people are in Central Park at 2:30 am, usually without a problem. Washington Square Park, Tompkins Square, Fort Tryon Park, etc. The big Manhattan parks are pretty safe these days. Prospect Park in Brooklyn is also pretty safe, as are the newer Brooklyn Parks. Basically wherever gentrification has hit, the cops are out and about, etc.. Things get a little dicey if you’re strolling through parks in the Bronx, out of the way parks, etc., you might not be so safe.
frankcar1965
When will people learn to stay the hell out of Mexico? One of the highest murder rates and yet stupid Americans flock down there. Not to mention the corrupt police.