Carl Blea, the gay man shot while holding hands with his husband as they walked home through a park after a night of dancing in Puerto Vallarta, is heading home on Tuesday.
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Blea, a Palm Springs realtor, told the Desert Sun that the assailant is still at large and that local media continues to report the incident as a robbery despite a report from the couple that says otherwise.
Blea said over the phone from his hospital bed that he and his husband never made contact with the gunman, who remains at large.
“They're really not listening to us,” he said of the media in Mexico.
He added that the chief of police and a spokesperson from the mayor's office visited him in the hospital. That said, he feels that his concerns have fallen on deaf ears. “No matter what we say, they're not going to pay attention to us,” Blea said.
Blea added that he has learned a lesson from the incident:
Blea regrets not being more careful walking through the streets at 2:30 a.m., mainly because he was holding hands with Lange. He said he will think twice before being physically affectionate towards his husband in another country.
“If anything, that's the biggest lesson I learned,” Blea said. “You just never know who you may come across who may hate that.”
