CNN
By Jack Guy, CNN
(CNN) — The killing of Mexican cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday set off a wave of retaliatory violence from his gunmen, affecting areas popular with foreign tourists such as Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.
The US State Department advised Monday that more areas of Mexico have “returned to normal” following widespread unrest, but cautioned US citizens in Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, and Ciudad Guzman to continue to shelter in place. Several US airlines suspended flights to the popular resort town Puerto Vallarta, stranding many tourists who were desperate to escape the violence and return home.
CNN spoke to a number of those affected, including American Yoni Pizer, who lives in Puerto Vallarta and told CNN he was attacked by gunmen during Sunday’s violence, when the car he was driving in was hijacked, torched, and used to barricade a road.
Pizer said he was on his way to go whale watching with his husband and two friends when they came across a white truck stopped at an intersection.
“A young man came running with a gun pointed at our windshield to us, screaming in Spanish: Get out of the car! Get out of the car!” Pizer told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Monday.
They jumped out of the vehicle. The gunman got into the driver’s seat and, with his gun in one hand, maneuvered the car to the intersection, Pizer said.
“(The gunman) threw an incendiary device or some sort of bomb in the car, which immediately exploded in flames. And then two seconds later, the truck was also on fire,” Pizer said.
As Pizer and his friends ran away, they heard explosions from the car and gunfire.
“Then they just started grabbing people as more traffic started coming toward the intersection. Some people were able to squeal and make u-turns and head away. Others were caught, and were dragged out of their cars. And their were cars were moved also to block the road.”
Chaos and confusion
Dallas resident Adryan Moorefield, who was set to travel home from Puerto Vallarta on Sunday but awoke to the news that members of organized crime groups had set buses on fire, blocked roads and clashed with authorities.
“It was such a complete shocker and it almost felt like being in the twilight zone,” Moorefield told CNN. “We’ve been to PV before and thought that this would be a no brainer place to come and do a quick, easy beach vacation.”
American tourist Jim Beck told CNN he ventured outside his hotel in Puerto Vallarta to get breakfast on Sunday and saw “taxi cabs blown up all over town, blocking the roads.”
“Then immediately, everyone was running down the street, screaming and yelling, and they told everyone to get back to their hotels,” Beck said.
Mari, another tourist who asked to go by her first name for privacy reasons, said her young family had been sheltering in their vacation rental and watching the unrest unfold outside.
“We have