A U.S. citizen was shot to death in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Tijuana on Thursday morning in what appeared to be a targeted attack. He was identified as Jorge Kalb Zarmaei, 37.

Injured in the attack was the victim’s father, identified as Daniel Leon Kalb Konay, 71, according to a statement from the Baja California Attorney General’s Office.

The U.S. Overseas Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of State said both victims were Americans.

Mexican media reported that Jorge Kalb was from Miami, and in the financial advisory business.


The shooting occurred at 7:30 a.m. in the lobby of the hotel, located near the busy thoroughfare Boulevard Agua Caliente. The Attorney General’s statement said that Jorge Kalb was shot in the chest. His father was taken to a private hospital in the city’s Río Zone.

Tijuana Mayor Jorge Astiazarán called the killing “an isolated incident that took place inside a hotel,” and said that “it apparently was directed at these individuals.”

Municipal police arrived less than two minutes after the incident was reported, and by then suspect already had fled, he said.

By mid-morning there were no signs of the attack in the hotel’s lobby. It appeared to be business as usual as guests milled about, except for the presence of a pair of uniformed Tijuana municipal police officers and a handful of agents from the Baja California Attorney General’s Office, the agency that is investigating the crime.