Guadalajara, Mexico— One vendor was shot dead Saturday morning inside the bustling Mercado Libertad, known as San Juan de Dios, when two armed men demanding cash from stalls opened fire after the man refused to hand over his day’s earnings, sending hundreds of shoppers running for exits. The shooting happened at 10:20 a.m.
The market, the largest roofed market in Latin America, holds 3,000 stalls. At that hour it was packed. Witnesses said the two men entered through the Hidalgo entrance, walked past produce rows, and stopped at a meat stall on the second floor. They pulled a pistol, demanded money. The vendor, 52, pushed the gun away. He was shot twice in the chest. The gunmen grabbed an estimated 8,000 pesos and ran down a stairwell.
“He said, not today, I have to pay my supplier,” said a neighboring vendor who sells cheese 10 meters away. “Then they shot him. No argument. Just shots.” She closed her stall with a metal shutter. “We pay piso to be here. We pay the city, we pay criminals. Now they kill us too.”
Guadalajara municipal police said market security guards did not intervene. The market has 12 guards for three levels. Cameras exist but half are broken. A police commander at the scene admitted response was slow because patrol cars cannot enter the narrow streets around the market on Saturdays. “We came on foot. By then they were gone,” he said.
Traders have complained for months about armed robberies and extortion inside San Juan de Dios. The merchants’ association sent a letter to City Hall last week asking for police presence inside. No answer came. A leader of the association said Saturday, “We are alone. This market generates millions. The city takes taxes. We get nothing.”
The state prosecutor’s office recovered two 9mm casings. No arrests by 2 p.m. The market was partially evacuated, then reopened two hours later. Vendors near the meat section kept shutters down. Blood was washed away with a hose.
The victim’s family arrived at noon. They were told to go to the morgue. His son said his father had worked the same stall for 18 years.
The mayor’s office promised a “security reinforcement plan” for markets. No details were given. No extra officers were seen inside Saturday afternoon.
The homicide investigation is open. The stalls around the crime scene remain closed.
The market is running, but quieter.
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