12 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | NEWS
Qsaltlake.com |
Utahn shot in drug gang cross-fire at all-gay resort week in Cancun What was supposed to be a fancy gay getaway weekend at a five-star Mexican resort for Day of the Dead turned into a nightmare for four Utahns. “Just wanted to say I’m very lucky to be alive and able to even write this post,” Tanner VanValkenburg of Salt Lake City wrote on his return from Mexico. “Two weeks ago I flew to Cancun, Mexico, for a vacation. On Thursday the 4th, we were sitting by the pool, and some drug dealers came in and started shooting, killing two other gang members on the beach.” VanValkenburg wrote that the gunmen went onto the resort grounds and continued shooting. “All of us were running for our lives. There was a pool bar we were all trying to get to for safety. As I dove into the pool, I got shot in the back mid-dive.” He said he knew he’d been shot and went to the side of the pool, holding the wound. “I’ll never forget those next few moments,” he continued. “As blood was coming out, I thought to myself, ‘This is it. This is how I’m going to go.’ As the gunman walked past the pool, all I could do I close my eyes and pray he did not shoot the others still in the pool hiding and in shock.” VanValkenburg had traveled to the all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva 20 miles south of Cancun as part of an all-gay vacation run by LGBTQ vacation company, Vacaya. He was joined by his boyfriend Rod Cox and friends George Limberakis and his husband, Randy Bradshaw.
Limberakis posted that the four of them were sitting in the second row of chairs from the pool when the shooting started. “We were directly across from the swim-up bar, which was on the opposite side of the pool. Behind us was a huge open area with another pool. Behind that was the beach, which wrapped around toward where we were sitting. Randy had just returned from getting tacos and was standing next to me. Tanner and Rod were sitting behind me. Randy and I both noticed a security guard who was walking very quickly toward the beach. We didn’t know it at the time, but, apparently, a boatload of drug gangers landed on the beach to reclaim their territory, which two rival drug dealers had invaded,” Limberakis wrote. “One rival banger was killed on the beach, as witnessed by the guys playing volleyball. A gunman walked toward the volleyballers, reportedly firing his rifle. A second rival banger was shot and ran onto the resort property. He hid in one of the buildings and, we’re told, he died there.” “Thirty seconds after the security guard walked past us, we heard automatic weapon fire,” Limberakis continued. “At the same time, bottles placed on a shelf at the back of the swim-up bar were shattering. The four of us were directly between the shooters and the bar. Someone yelled, ‘GUN!!!’ and we all jumped into the pool. I was unclear about where to go from there, thinking it might be safest to swim back to the same side of the pool and be against the wall. I
Issue 330 | DECEMBER, 2021
saw people climbing over the swim-up bar and disappear. Someone popped his head up from the bar and told us to follow him. Rod, Randy, and I headed for the bar.” “As I was swimming for the bar, I turned and saw Tanner pressed against the side of the pool, below the lifeguard tower. There were two people with him. Rod and I called Tanner to follow us to the bar, but he shook his head,” Limberakis wrote. “There was no time to debate. We were in an open area and very vulnerable. I thought Tanner was doing what his gut told him to do to preserve himself, and I had to do the same.” “I got to the bar and climbed onto it. Everything, including me, was wet and slippery. As I put my foot down on the other side of the bar, I slipped and hit the tile floor hard. Someone helped me up and led me down a narrow tunnel usually only used by the bartenders to get to the bar. It led to a cellar under the restaurant. It was tall enough for us to stand. The space was never meant to be inhabited. It was dirty and dusty. The floor was covered with debris, and we were all barefoot, wet, and in swimsuits.” Hotel staff, who also ran to hide there, said there were three entrances to their make-shift bunker. “We organized. There wasn’t much down there. We found a stack of aluminum poles and distributed them to be used as weapons should the shooters come looking for us,” Limberakis recalled. “One guy was wielding a pedestal sink that he found. One guy had a fire extinguisher that he pulled from the bar. One group took position near the stairs, another by the bar entrance, and a couple positioned themselves to be able to see if anyone entered from the third entrance. I examined my aluminum pole and saw that the two ends were sharp. I thought about how I’d use it and pushed away the reality that the pole would be of little use against someone with an automatic rifle.” “We didn’t know if the shooters wanted to kill us or kidnap and hold us as hostages or if we were unimportant to what was happening,” Limberakis continued. “We waited. We listened. Some cried. One guy paced angrily, waving his aluminum pole. When we heard a sound, we all went silent and waited to see if anything would develop. After about an hour of this, someone from the hotel came down and told us that the resort was being secured by heavily armed police and that we were to go, single file, to the main lobby of the hotel. We couldn’t go to our rooms until the resort had been swept.” “We learned later that Tanner had been
