It was too early to say if the attacks were linked, but they were a marked intrusion of bloodshed into Mexico's main tourism zone, a region that had previously been spared much of the violence plaguing other parts of the country.
The governor of Quintana Roo state, Carlos Joaquin, said three attackers and one police officer died in Tuesday's incident. He said five suspected attackers were taken into custody. He urged calmed, saying the federal government was sending more security forces to the region.
A few hours later, hundreds of people fled the Plaza de Las Americas shopping center after possibly hearing gunfire inside. It wasn't clear what happened, or if any shots were fired, but soldiers swarmed into the mall.
Irma Huxool, a woman who had just bought tickets to the movies, told The Associated Press that she heard three shots "at the entrance to the cinema" and people started running in confused panic.
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Earlier in the day, the hypothesis of drug links to the shooting in nearby Playa del Carmen before dawn Monday was strengthened after a banner briefly appeared along a roadside, signed by the "Old School Zetas," part of the fragmented Zetas cartel, suggesting the attack was carried out as part of a battle against rival gangs.
Quintana Roo's attorney general, Miguel Angel Pech, said investigators were looking into whether the banner referred to the BPM music festival or one of its organizers.
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