Mexico- Gabriele Schart, 57, from London, Ontario, fatally shot in the face in gas station robbery, Queretaro City, Mexico, 16 March 2024

[dotr]

'She was always laughing': Friend remembers Canadian woman killed in Mexico robbery

The friend of a Canadian killed in Mexico says she spoke to Gabriele Schart on the phone just moments before the woman was shot in a gas station robbery.

www.cp24.com

March 21, 2024

''The friend of a Canadian killed in Mexico says she spoke to Gabriele Schart on the phone just moments before the woman was shot in a gas station robbery.
Raquel Shulman says Schart was making the long journey by road back to Canada with a friend when they made a stop outside of Queretaro City, Mexico to fuel up.
She says that's when the pair were robbed at gunpoint - Mexican police said Schart received a fatal shot in the face.''

“I spoke to her while she was at the gas station she was killed at,” Shulman said in a phone interview from the Greater Toronto Area.
“She was telling me it was her last tank of gas until the (U.S.) border.”

Schart was travelling from Zipolite, Mexico, with a friend and pets, and had expressed concerns over bandits targeting motorists on Mexican highways, one of her sons wrote in an online post.

Mexican police said the pair were robbed at a gas station, with the thieves firing three shots. One hit Schart in the face, killing her, while the friend was shot in the arm, they said''

 

[dotr]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-woman-killed-robbery-mexico-1.7149419

''Canada warns Mexico visitors to be cautious​

Global Affairs Canada is "aware of the death of a Canadian in Mexico," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Consular officials are providing consular assistance and support to the family and are in contact with local authorities to obtain additional information," said the statement emailed to CBC News on Wednesday. "Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed."

The Canadian government also advises visitors to Mexico to "exercise a high degree of caution" because of high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping.
CBC News also reached out to authorities and others in Mexico about the Schart case.''

''2 of woman's pets found, search on for 3​

One of the dogs she was taking home, a boxer named Ruby, as well as a cat were picked up by Mexican animal protection officials after the killing.''

Schart was driving home to Canada from Mexico with her four dogs. After she was killed, the animals scattered. Only the boxer, Ruby, has been found. (Supplied by Claudia Memet)

 

[Cedars]

I just want to add some context to this case, since people find crime in Mexico so bewildering.

Unfortunately, Gabriele didn't know, but this particular stretch of highway had been targetted for extreme violence for months.

It had become so bad, and so many truckers had been killed by bandits robbing their trucks, they blockaded the highway for days in February, demanding a meeting with the President of Mexico, and a promise of action.

Truckers end protest blockade on Querétaro-México highway

A blockade by Mexican truck drivers has ended after government officials agreed to discuss the security situation on the country's highways.

mexiconewsdaily.com

So, unknowingly, into this battle zone, Gabriele not only drove through, (instead of taking an alternate route around), but she stopped right in the middle of it (also, possibly, late at night).

It then appears from the outside that going anywhere in Mexico, you are likely to be shot by random killers, that's not really the case.

It's just that, information that Mexican people who read the news know, isn't communicated to English speakers.

This doesn't make it right, it just makes it less senseless.

JMO

ETA, edited to remove references to cartels, I really don't know who is behind the violence.

JMO

 

[Marie A]

DBM