A New York tourist was fatally shot early Sunday while visiting Puerto Rico to attend Bad Bunny’s residency, according to police.
The victim, Kevin Mares, 25, was killed in La Perla, a popular seaside shantytown near Old San Juan, according to a police statement.
The shooting took place in the early morning hours at a nightclub called “Shelter for Mistreated Men.”
Mares was shot in the left side of his abdomen and transported to Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital, where he died, according to authorities.
Homicide detective Sgt. Arnaldo Ruiz told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the shooting occurred when several people near Mares began arguing, and one of them pulled out a gun and shot at least three people. Two other men from La Perla were injured and remain hospitalized.
“We’re still in the process of determining why the events occurred. We can’t rule anything out until the interviews are finished,” Ruiz told local media, according to El Nuevo Dia.
The police sergeant stated that Mares was an innocent bystander who was in Puerto Rico with friends for one of Bad Bunny’s 30 concerts. The musician’s high-profile residency has brought tens of thousands of visitors to the US territory.
According to Ruiz, Mares’ three friends were also from New York. He didn’t know their hometowns.
La Perla is located on the outskirts of Old San Juan, a tourist-friendly historic district. The shantytown, which was once the largest heroin distribution point in Puerto Rico and was notorious for violence, now houses a few hundred people.
Police used to avoid the community, which had a sign that read, “Not open to visitors.” “Do not enter.”
But the violence subsided after hundreds of federal agents raided the slum in 2011 and arrested dozens of people, including a well-known community leader who was later convicted.
The neighborhood became even safer and more welcoming after Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee mentioned it in their hit song “Despacito.”
However, isolated violent incidents persist.
Three tourists were stabbed in February 2023, according to police, after being told by someone to stop filming inside the community.
Then, in April 2024, a 24-year-old Delaware tourist was killed and his body burned after police claimed he and a friend were attacked after purchasing drugs. Police said the victims attempted to photograph La Perla despite being warned not to.
The island of 3.2 million people has reported 277 killings this year, compared to 325 in the same period last year.
