SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. tourist visiting Puerto Rico for Bad Bunny’s residency was fatally shot early Sunday at La Perla, a well-known seaside community, according to police.
The victim was identified as Kevin Mares, a 25-year-old who lived in New York, according to a police statement.
The incident occurred before dawn at a venue called “Shelter for Mistreated Men” in La Perla, a coastal area striving to overcome its negative reputation.
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Homicide detective Sgt. Arnaldo Ruiz explained in a phone interview that the shooting erupted when a dispute broke out among several individuals near Mares, leading to one person drawing a gun and shooting at least three people, including Mares. Two local men were injured and are still hospitalized.
Ruiz noted that Mares was merely an innocent bystander. He was in the company of three friends who informed authorities they were in Puerto Rico to attend one of Bad Bunny’s 30 concerts, events that have attracted numerous 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 mentioned that the cause of the argument remains unknown, and no description of the shooter is available. “We have very little information,” he mentioned.
Ruiz added that Mares’ three friends also were from New York. He didn’t have their hometowns.
La Perla, located near a historic tourist district known as Old San Juan, is home to a few hundred residents. The shantytown previously operated as Puerto Rico’s largest heroin distribution hub and was infamous for 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, violent incidents persist.
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.
