A British man was shot dead at a Mexican supermarket in the state of Colima, alongside his two friends as his distraught parents say he was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Software engineer Ben Corser, 37, from England was gunned down while picking up shopping in Colima, western Mexico last Tuesday, May 31st.
Ben, who had been in the country since January, was sitting in a car when he and two pals, Claudio and Alfredo, were shot and killed.
His parents, former headteacher Andrew Corser and Lorraine Downes, and his brother Tom Corser, said he was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The devastated family said Ben had “become part of the community” in Mexico and was having a “very happy and sociable time.”
They said: “Ben has been in Mexico since January 2022, where he had been having a very happy and sociable time, living in different parts of Mexico, becoming part of the community, and also moving around a bit.
“Most recently, Ben was living with a Mexican-American family near Colima city. Two of the young men in the household [Claudio and Alfredo] were skateboarders and Ben joined them skating.
“On Tuesday evening, May 24, 2022, Ben and Claudio come back on the bus from Guadalajara and Alfredo picked them up in the car.
“They went along the main boulevard in Colima and stopped at a supermarket to get some food for Mamma.
“While they were in the car, outside the supermarket, all three young men, including Ben sitting in the back seat, were shot dead.
“We have had no explanation, no reasons given, no suggestion of robbery, kidnapping or anything else.
“No doubt the police will eventually conclude their investigation and tell us what they think happened – there had been a dramatic upsurge in Colima in the last few weeks, although this was not directed at all at tourists.
“It is most likely that this was a question of Ben [and Claudio and Alfredo] being tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Ben, although born in London, lived in Cornwall from his first birthday.
He went to school in Sennen and Cape Cornwall in St Just, as well as St Julian’s in Portugal, before doing his A-levels at Truro College, and going on to study at Bristol UWE, and latterly Birkbeck College, in London.
The family added: “Ben was one of the founders of an eclectic group of artists called the Bristol Diving School; it is hoped that exhibitions of his work will be arranged in Bristol and Cornwall, and probably on-line as well.
“We hope to conduct Ben’s funeral and burial on Midsummer Day, June 24, in St Just, with a wake on the evening of the following day.”
Source: El Heraldo
