SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A tourist from the U.S. mainland who was visiting Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny’s residency was fatally shot early Sunday at La Perla, a popular seaside shantytown, police said.
The victim was identified as Kevin Mares, a 25-year-old who lived in New York, according to a police statement.
The shooting happened in the predawn hours at a nightspot called “Refuge for Mistreated Men” in La Perla, a coastal community that has struggled to shed its dark reputation.
Homicide detective Sgt. Arnaldo Ruiz said in a phone interview that the shooting took place when several people near Mares began arguing and one pulled out a gun and shot at least three people, including Mares. A brother and a sister in their mid-40s who live in La Perla were injured and remain hospitalized.
Ruiz said Mares was an innocent bystander. He was with three other friends who told police they were in Puerto Rico for one of Bad Bunny’s 30 concerts, which have attracted tens of thousands of visitors to the U.S. territory.
Mares was shot on the left side of his abdomen and was taken to Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital, where he died, authorities said.
Ruiz said police don’t yet know what the people were arguing about and don’t have a description of the shooter. “We have very little information,” he said.
Ruiz added that Mares’ three friends also were from New York. He didn’t have their hometowns.
San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero told reporters Sunday that he would share footage from security cameras in the area, adding that Mares’ partner had opted not to visit la Perla with him.
Police said the incident occurred at 4:13 a.m., even though a municipal code approved in 2023 states that authorized businesses in San Juan can only serve or sell alcohol from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and up to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday if Monday is a holiday.
La Perla is located on the outskirts of a historic district popular with tourists known as Old San Juan. A couple hundred people live in the shantytown, which once served as Puerto Rico’s biggest distribution point for heroin and was known for its violence.
Police used to avoid the community, which used to have a sign proclaiming, “Not open to visitors. Do not enter.”
But violence eased when 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 featured it in their hit, “Despacito.”
But isolated violence persists.
In February 2023, three tourists were stabbed after police said a person told them to stop filming inside the community.
Then in April 2024, a 24-year-old tourist from Delaware was killed and his body set on fire after police said he and a friend were attacked following a drug purchase. Police said the victims were trying to take pictures of La Perla after being warned not to do so.
The island of 3.2 million people has reported 277 killings so far this year, compared with 325 killings in the same period last year.
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