A Montana woman vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, says she witnessed hours of chaos after Mexican officials said special forces killed "El Mencho," the leader of a powerful cartel, over the weekend.
Rhiannon Briggs of Billings described what began as a vacation getaway that quickly changed.
The incident triggered fires and attacks on vehicles and buildings. Briggs says she has since been sheltering in her hotel room and is safe.
With flights to Puerto Vallarta canceled, Briggs says she and her group plan to stay put.
"We got a little farther ahead and all of a sudden we started hearing gunshots, which we could only attest to was the cop trying to keep people away from the bus because nobody was really listening and cars were still driving by," Briggs said. "I was a little concerned at first, but the fact of all the locals and everything else and all of the other tourists around us, not really panicking, kind of just solidified that it didn't seem as bad as it could be."
The U.S. State Department says it is closely monitoring the situation.
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