Toronto bouncer killed in Mexican club shooting
Kirk Wilson was part of security team at festival where attack left five dead
Family and friends are mourning the loss of a Toronto bouncer killed in a shooting attack at an electronic music festival in Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort town of Playa del Carmen early Monday.
Kirk Wilson, 49, has been identified by friends as the Canadian victim in the shooting at BPM Festival that left five people dead and15 more injured. Canadian officials said at least two other Canadians were wounded in the deadly incident.
Neil Forester, a Toronto event promoter who first met Wilson 20 years ago, said the city’s club community is shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of one of their beloved bouncers.
Wilson, who Forester said lived in Hamilton with his wife and two children, was working security at the BPM Festival at the time of the shooting.
BPM, which stands for “Bartenders, Promoters and Musicians,” is a popular annual 10-day festival, co-founded by a pair of Canadians and held annually in the Mexican resort town since 2008.
“Kirk was just one of the nicest, friendliest guys who always put others before himself,” Forester said. “That’s why he was so well loved. He was just not your typical doorman. He was a staple in the nightclub scene as one of the friendlier guys.”
Standing at 6-feet-5, Wilson had an imposing figure but was known as one of the friendliest faces in Toronto’s nightclub scene. With dreads hanging down to his waist, Wilson was known to many as “Kirk with the dreads,” Forester recalled.
The shooting occurred at the Blue Parrot nightclub, one of the BPM Festival’s venues in Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun.
Quintana Roo state attorney general Miguel Angel Pech said that four of the dead appear to have been part of the security detail at the 10-day BPM electronic music festival.
Pech ruled out a terrorist attack and said a lone gunman apparently entered the nightclub and began to exchange fire with another person inside. Festival security personnel tried to stop the shooting and came under fire.
“I was thinking it was the same thing that happened in Paris, some guy just walking in and shooting people at a restaurant, bang bang bang, a terrorist attack,” said New Zealand tourist Tyler Kee, who was outside the club when shots rang out. “Everyone run, everyone was terrified, looking for friends . We were running away and then you heard more shots fired, like you don’t know if you’re going to be shot in the back or not.”
“Kirk was just one of the nicest, friendliest guys who always put others before himself.”
NEIL FORESTER
TORONTO EVENT PROMOTER
The shooting was said to have caused a rush of people heading for the exits at the beachside club, and the lone female victim was apparently killed during the stampede.
Pech said 15 people were injured, one seriously. He said five of the injured had been treated for less serious injuries at local hospitals and released.
Three people had been detained nearby, but it was unclear if they had been involved in the shooting.
“We know of another shooting incident that occurred near the nightclub, but we are investigating whether that is related to the nightclub shootings,” Pech said.
Tributes poured in Monday from friends and colleagues who knew Wilson. Justin Meeks worked with the bouncer at the former Guvernment nightclub and described him as a kind and caring man.
“When people say he was one of the nicest guys, it may sound sort of cheesy, but that’s the definition of him,” Meeks said.
“He was quiet and kept to himself, but he was humorous and had one of the kindest, kindest hearts and souls. To find that in the club industry can be rare.”
Meeks said Toronto’s nightclub community is reeling from the loss.
INK Entertainment, a company that runs several nightclubs in Toronto, said Wilson was “a longtime employee and great friend.”
“Our team is overcome with grief over this terrible tragedy and would like to express our sincerest condolences to his family and friends for their loss. Kirk will be missed by the entire INK team,” read a statement from the company.
Festival director Rajtek Pulitano of Toronto, one of a half-dozen directors of the festival, said he hadn’t heard any threats against the beachfront event.
“It’s been 10 years that I’ve been doing it and this is the first,” Pulitano said.
The BPM Festival posted a statement that said three members of their security team were killed “while trying to protect patrons inside the venue.”
“We are overcome with grief over this senseless act of violence and we are co-operating fully with local law enforcement and government officials as they continue their investigation,” the BPM statement said.
Global Affairs Canada said it was able to confirm at least one Canadian fatality and was looking to verify the report about the second death.
“Consular officials . . . are providing consular assistance to Canadian citizens affected by the incident, including two who have been injured,” spokesperson Jocelyn Sweet said in an email.