Mysterious 'Wreck-It Ralph' Theater Shooting Claims Child's Life in Mexico

MEXICO CITY -- The mysterious shooting of a 10-year-old boy in a Mexico City Cinepolis movie theater has raised more questions than answers.

A week after the death of Hendrik Cuacuas, details of the shooting remain murky at best, and it has become a topic of intrigue. Cinepolis was a Twitter top trend Tuesday.

According to an ongoing police investigation and local media reports, the shooting occurred Nov. 2 while young Cuacuas, accompanied by his father and sister, were watching the animated Disney film Wreck-It-Ralph in a southern Mexico City theater.

The boy's father, Enrique Cuacuas, told investigators and radio station Radio W that the child was sitting on his right side in a full theater when about a half-hour into the screening he heard something whiz past his ear, followed by the sound of a thud. He then turned to his right and saw his son convulsing and bleeding from the head. At that point, he realized his son had been shot. The boy was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but died two days later.

An autopsy report revealed that the child was shot from a distance of about four to six feet and it said the bullet entered the front of his head. However, adding to the general confusion, the coroner was quoted as saying that the shooter was not necessarily standing in front of the victim.

Even stranger, the boy's father and others in the theater said they heard no gunshots.

Without offering proof, Cuacuas told Radio W that he learned there had been similar incidents in the past in the same theater.

Pablo Jimenez, head of Cinepolis' legal department, told Foro TV there was one incident in March, "also difficult to explain … in which a person received an injury to the foot." Jimenez said he didn't know if the injury was the result of a gunshot.  

Police have closed the theater as the investigation continues.