2nd shooting rocks sunspots

Photo: The Canadian Press

Two consecutive days of shooting attacks that left a total of nine dead have put two of the jewels of Mexico's Caribbean coast on edge and spurred a warning to tourists by the U.S. government.

As investigators worked Tuesday at the scene of a shooting the previous day that caused five deaths in the nearby beach town of Playa del Carmen, the region was stunned when gunmen assaulted the Quintana Roo state prosecutors' offices in Cancun, and four people were killed.

Authorities attributed both incidents to organized crime, but made no comment on whether they might be linked.

On Tuesday night, two women embraced and cried while looking at a pool of blood and a flickering candle just inside the gate of the state prosecutors' office. A police officer and three apparent attackers were killed as police repelled the afternoon attack and five suspects were detained, Quintana Roo state Gov. Carlos Joaquin said.

The governor pleaded for calm, saying the federal government was sending more security forces to help local and state authorities. "Cancun residents and our visitors can go about their lives," he said in a televised address. "I repeat: The three levels of government protect society."

But central Cancun, which is away from the hotel zone where most foreigners stay, was palpably tense.

Shortly after the gunbattle at the prosecutors' office, a convoy of police trucks streaked toward the gleaming Plaza de las Americas mall where hundreds of fearful shoppers flooded out the exits after people reported hearing gunfire. Soldiers in full battle gear cleared the property.

Later, an official with the prosecutor's office said the mall scare proved to be a false alarm. Although some shoppers reported hearing gunshots, investigators found no sign of any crime there, said the official, who agreed to discuss the incident only if not quoted by name because he was not authorized to speak with press.

The U.S. Consulate in Merida issued an alert about the incidents in Cancun and urged U.S. citizens to take care and "to follow local authorities' warnings and directives and consult with their hotels before leaving the premises."

Authorities released few details about the attack on the prosecutors' office, including the number of attackers or information on those detained.

The Cancun shooting came one day after five people, including three foreigners, died during a shooting at a beachside club during the BPM electronic music festival in Playa del Carmen.