Two U.S. tourists were stabbed and another one assaulted in Puerto Rico early Monday after a confrontation that police said was sparked when someone told them to stop filming a food vendor's cart in a renowned seaside community that is popular with visitors.
Authorities said one of the tourists, who lives in South Carolina, began filming a mobile hamburger cart in La Perla and was told by a man to stop and leave the area, saying they were not welcomed there, police said.
Following the warning, the man assaulted the victim and the three tourists began to retreat, according to Telemundo Puerto Rico. The tourists then realized they were being followed and while leaving La Perla, the man attacked two of them with a knife, stabbing one of the tourists at least six times.
The two wounded victims were hospitalized in stable condition, police said.
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No one has been arrested.
The attack happened nearly two years after a tourist from Delaware was killed and set on fire after police said he was warned not to take pictures while buying drugs in La Perla. A friend of his also was beaten but survived.
La Perla is located in the historic part of Puerto Rico’s capital known as Old San Juan and became famous after it was featured in the video of “Despacito,” a song released in 2017 by Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.
U.S. & World
The community was once a dangerous slum considered the island’s biggest distribution point for heroin, but crime has dropped since a 2011 raid by federal agents.
