Within weeks, authorities had detained 17 suspects in the attack. “It wasn’t until many hours later that I found out my son had died.” Pérez, who has served as a spokeswoman for the victims’ families, said a decade-long nightmare began that day. I couldn’t find him, the chaos broke out immediately.” “It didn’t last long, we didn’t know it was gasoline until the smoke started,” she said. “I heard a commotion, I turned around and I saw a man hit a woman with gun,” Pérez recalled. Within seconds, a peaceful day at the casino turned into pandemonium.
Pérez recalled the moment when armed men burst in and began to douse the casino with gasoline.