SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — On Monday, Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, said things are calming down after the killing of a drug lord sparked violence in the country. She also sought to reassure the public that everything is under control.
Violence erupted Sunday when Mexican authorities tried to arrest the leader of one of the country's largest cartels.
Mexico's Secretary of Defense said the drug lord's security detail opened fire when police moved in to arrest him.
The cartel leader later died during an evacuation flight. In response, Mexico said the cartel set cars on fire, attacked gas stations and businesses.
Twenty-five members of the Mexican National Guard and more than 30 cartel members were killed.
In the meantime, many Americans are still stuck in the country, since the U.S. Embassy in Mexico urged Americans there to shelter in place, and most domestic and international flights have been canceled.
But one Summit County man made it out just in time.
Now, he’s patiently waiting for his family to make it back, too.
"You know how you go to bed at night and not all your kids are in their beds, and it just doesn’t feel right? Well, doesn’t feel right with me by myself,” said Ben Jones.
While Jones waited for his flight to take off from Puerto Vallarta, he recorded a video of thick, black smoke in the sky and dozens of people standing right on the airport’s taxiway.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to take off because all the other planes had been grounded and this particular United flight, it was the last one out of there yesterday,” said Jones.
News 5 asked Jones how he felt when his plane departed from the airport.
"I felt good about it. But (I felt) you know it was hard because my family was not with me,” said Jones.
Just days before the chaos, Jones said he never imagined this would be his reality when he and his family arrived in Puerto Vallarta last Tuesday.
"My nephew had a destination wedding down there, so the whole family went down, and there was about 150 people altogether,” said Jones.
From catching sunrises and sunsets to enjoying a beautiful display of fireworks at his nephew’s wedding, Jones said he had no idea what was about to take place when it came time to head to the airport for his early flight home.
"I noticed like some booms of smoke here and there, and the cab driver was really driving kind of crazy,” said Jones.
Unaware of the dangerous situation in Mexico, Jones said he didn’t think too much about his surroundings until he began talking to another passenger.
"He told me they had killed the main guy for the cartel and that the cartel was retaliating, setting fires and stuff like that around the city,” said Jones.
Immediately, Jones called his wife and three kids, who stayed at the resort while Jones left early to get back to work.
"My first instinct obviously is stay with the family in a situation like that, but the way things were going, everything was locked down, I’d probably still be at the airport. I wouldn’t even be able to be with them at this point, so it was that point where I had to make a decision and ended up coming home,” said Jones.
While Jones feels helpless and a bit uneasy, he said his wife’s reassurance does help even though they’re miles apart.
"I do feel like we’re protected,” she said. “We are seeing flights come in and out, and we’re assuming they’re United.”
"I’m a pretty positive person, but in a situation like that that you’ve never been in before, every little bit of support helps,” said Jones.
After our interview, Ben said his niece’s plane took off from the destination city, so he’s hopeful his wife, three kids and the rest of their family will be home in the next day or so.
"I do feel bad for the destination, Puerto Vallarta, because I think this is really going to affect people wanting to stay away from there, not travel there. Feeling like it’s very unsafe,” said Jones.
“Even though all this, I’d go back.”
