‘We are going to die’: El Paso couple recounts deadly shooting in Mexican nightclub

“Off to another adventure”, read a photo posted by Mabel Torres the morning of January 10, showing the beginning of a vacation to Mexico with her boyfriend Marcos Vasquez. The El Paso couple had no idea their adventure would turn into a life or death situation just days later.

Just before dawn early Monday morning, gunfire broke out in a crowded beachfront nightclub in Playa Del Carmen, causing five deaths and setting off a bloody stampede by screaming concertgoers at an international festival.

Authorities said this happened at the 10-day BPM electronic music festival when security personnel tried to stop a man from entering the Blue Parrot club with a gun.

The shooting occurred near the largest exit, setting off chaos as concert goers had to scramble over a metal fence to escape to the beach.

Vazquez and Torres were at the nearby La Vaquita nightclub when they suddenly saw people running by.

“A lot of people running, like a mass stampede,” Vasquez told ABC-7. At least one person died in the crush to escape and some of the 15 people wounded or injured were hurt in the rush out, authorities said.

Vasquez began recording video on his cell phone when he realized the video he was shooting showed a man on the ground. “This guy wasn’t moving at all. And then, I knew something was happening, ” said Vasquez.

“That is when I started to say to my girlfriend to get into the bathroom.”

Vasquez said he and Mabel, a reporter for the local Telemundo news station, locked themselves in a bathroom with eight other people. Outside, the two could hear people screaming. Their group huddled around one toilet, staying as silent as they could.

ABC-7 asked what the two were saying to each other while hiding in the bathroom. Torres choked up and quietly said, “nothing. We were terrified.” Almost crying, she added, “we just held our hands”.

“Everyone was like just like shh. Just be quiet. Like nobody is here,” said Vasquez. He said he pleaded with others to not say anything. “You know, I don’t know how long it happened.”

Those 10 minutes quietly huddled on the bathroom floor felt like hours for the recent UTEP grads who feared for their lives.

“I was scared, you know? Because I was with my girlfriend, the love of my life,” said Vasquez. “And I was like, ‘We are going to die'”.

After those 10 minutes, security guards told the group it was safe to come out.

Torres said, “I was like, terrified. I was like, ‘oh my God'”.

Once outside, the two tried to help a man who had been shot. The young couple quickly realized just how close they had been to the deadly shooting.

“I just want to hug my mom. That’s what I want to do. Give a hug to my mom,” Vasquez told ABC-7.

About an hour later, Vasquez tweeted, “Shooting 30 minutes ago in Playa Del Carmen. We saw wounded survivors in various streets.”

WARNING: Vasquez’s tweet below contains graphic footage.

Balacera hace 30 minutos en Playa del Carmen. Vimos algunos balaceados vivos en varias avenidas.. @Reforma @El_Universal_Mx @lajornadaonline pic.twitter.com/WeeSChFSiG

— Marcos A. Vazquez (@weirdmarcos) January 16, 2017

The two left the resort and are still in Mexico, but decided to go camping far away from the scene.

Quintana Roo state Attorney General Miguel Angel Pech ruled out any terror attack, and the state’s governor said it involved a personal dispute.

Three of those killed were part of the security detail at the 10-day BPM electronic music festival, Pech said. The gunman apparently fled. State officials said the dead included an Italian, a Colombian and two Canadians, but didn’t give a country for the fifth victim.

But Canada’s Global Affairs Department said Monday night that it had determined that only one of dead was a Canadian citizen, and identified him as Kirk J. Wilson of Toronto. It said at least two Canadians were among the injured.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry confirmed one of its citizens died.

Pech, the state attorney general, said the 15 people with injuries included a Mexican woman who was seriously injured. He said eight of the injured, including two U.S. citizens, were treated at hospitals and released.

Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquin attributed the shooting to “the intolerance and conflict of interests between two people,” and also referred to it as “a personal conflict.” But he did not specify what the conflict was. He said the two exchanged gunfire.

Playa del Carmen has largely been spared the violence that has hit other parts of Mexico.

The state tourism department said the shooting was an “isolated act of violence” and stressed that “the situation in Playa del Carmen is under control and Mexican and foreign tourists can feel protected and safe.”

Without providing nationalities, the state government gave the names of three of those killed. They included Kirk Wilson, who the state identified as the BPM security supervisor at the Blue Parrot, and Daniel Pessina and Rafael Antonio Penaloza Vega.

El Paso DJ Esteban Carrasco performed at the festival earlier in the week. He played at the club two days before the shooting.