CU student killed in Mexico during robbery
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 06:50 p.m., March 28, 2008
Updated 06:50 p.m., March 28, 2008

A University of Colorado student on spring break in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was shot and killed this week when he tried to resist two robbers, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said Friday.

Embassy and U.S. consular officers stationed in Puerto Vallarta were working with Mexican officials and the victim's family to retrieve the body of David Parrish, 21, said an embassy spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified.

Mexican authorities have informed the U.S. consulate that two men have been arrested, the spokeswoman said.

Parrish's mother was with him during this week's spring vacation.

The embassy spokeswoman did not know if a family member was with Parrish when he was robbed and shot about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

"There was apparently an attempted robbery by some people and Mr. Parrish appears to have resisted, and he was shot and subsequently died," she said. "It's a terrible thing, and we're very sorry that it happened."

Embassy officials were trying to confirm whether the attack happened at Puerto Vallarta's marina where cruise ships dock or the port, which includes a shopping district.

"Obviously, it's a great tragedy for our campus community any time we lose any of our students for any reason," CU Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard said Friday. "It's particularly a blow to friends and family, and we're part of an extended family. Our hearts go out to his parents and classmates."

Hilliard said campus records show that Parrish was a junior majoring in geography.

Puerto Vallarta, a resort city of 300,000, is on the Pacific coast in Jalisco state.

Despite Parrish's death, embassy officials said that violent crimes against American visitors are rare.

About 1 million American tourists travel to Puerto Vallarta annually, and embassy officials said they only knew of about a dozen other violent crimes against U.S. nationals.

"None were fatal, and they were a variety of crimes," the embassy spokeswoman said.

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