Gay tourist shot in Puerto Vallarta while holding hands with Husband

A tourist was shot and injured early Saturday while walking through Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in what he and his husband are calling a hate crime.

At about 2:30 a.m., returning home after an evening of dancing at a local nightclub, Carl Blea and Marc Lange were holding hands and walking to the condo where they were staying, Lange said. Walking through Lázaro Cárdenas Park, a man standing nearby yelled something at them. Blea then noticed the man pull out a gun and tried to get himself and Lange to safety.

The bullet struck Blea below his right buttock and exited through his thigh.

The men believe the shooting was a targeted hate crime because they’re gay. Lange called it “a random act of hatred.” He said he’s told police what happened multiple times however local media are reporting the incident as a robbery where Blea and Lange attempted to fight back, they dispute that story and believe local police and government are trying to cover-up the story.

The couple believes this was a hate-crime, an accusation that has not been proven, however the couple was never approached by the shooter or engaged in any confrontation as being reported by local authorities, against the official statement the couple gave in their police report.