A group of Canadian tourists smiled for a photo in front of the Pyramid of the Moon in Mexico, not knowing they mistakenly captured the moment before a mass shooting broke out.
Barbara Welsh, of British Columbia, and her friends were on their annual girls' trip, visiting the pyramid at the Teotihuacán site on Monday, when they stopped to pose for a group photo while on their guided tour.
In the background of the photo, Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez, 27, was seen climbing up the stairs of the steep pyramid moments before he would pull out a gun and shoot, killing one Canadian woman and injuring 13.
'We were just in shock mostly,' Welsh told CTV News. 'It was just horrible, but it could have been worse.'
When the women heard the first gunshot, they didn't realize they were in any danger yet. When another went off, they looked up to find a 'waterfall of people just rolling down the Pyramid of the Moon,' Welsh said.
Their tour guide screamed for the women to run, so they took off toward the parking lot where their tour bus was. They quickly sped away, but the women told the outlet they could hear gunshots for around 20 minutes.
Luckily for the group of seven, Welsh and her friend had just come down from the pyramid minutes before Ramirez opened fire, allowing them to reach the safety of their bus.
'It was just luck – total luck – that my girlfriend and I weren’t at the top of the pyramid at the time,' she told CTV News.
Barbara Welsh, of British Columbia, and her friends were visiting the Pyramid of the Moon on Monday and posed for a picture moments before a shooting broke out. Little did they know the gun was seen in their photo
Julio Cesar Jasso Ramirez, 27, opened fire after telling tourists he would make them a sacrifice. He killed a Canadian tourist and injured 13 others before taking his own life
They had left the steep pyramid because the altitude had bothered the two women.
The girls' trip was able to finish safely, and Welsh said the scary experience would not taint her view of Mexico City.
'You can’t anticipate something like this,' she told the outlet.
Ramirez, who was obsessed with Adolf Hitler, took his own life after wreaking havoc at the historical site.
'Don't move, or I'll sacrifice you,' he shouted at tourists, the New York Post reported.
'This was built for sacrifices, a**holes, not for visiting and taking a f**king s**t photo.'
He also said all European tourists would 'not go back.'
He allegedly lined up his shooting with the 27th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting and Hitler's birthday.
Police seen working on the pyramid. Welsh and her friend had been on pyramid just moments before the shooting, but had gotten off after the altitude bothered them, they said
The pyramids are a popular tourist attraction. Ramirez told tourists: 'This was built for sacrifices, a**holes, not for visiting and taking a f**king s**t photo'
Following the horrific incident, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said: 'What happened today in Teotihuacan hurts us deeply. I express my sincerest solidarity to the people affected and their families.'
Sheinbaum said that federal and state security forces were being sent out to the site to investigate, and that her administration is in contact with the Canadian government.
The Teotihuacán pyramids are a popular tourist attraction that people from all over the world flock to so they can take in the archaeological sites.