Gunmen Storm Mexican Village Hall And Shoot Dead Mayor

Armed attackers have fatally shot the mayor of San Mateo Piñas, marking another violent assault on public officials in Mexico.

Eyewitness accounts state that “four armed men arrived on motorcycles, stormed the village hall and opened fire on the mayor, Lilia Gema García Soto, and a local official who was in a meeting with her, Eli García Ramírez.”

Two members of the municipal police force sustained injuries during the incident.

Authorities are still working to determine why the mayor was targeted, but in Mexico, local government leaders often become targets for criminal organizations when they resist their influence.

This tragic killing makes García Soto the second sitting mayor in Oaxaca state to lose their life this year. “In May, the mayor of Santiago Amoltepec was shot dead in an ambush along with two other people who were in the car with him at the time of the attack.”

The governor of the state publicly denounced the murder and promised that justice would be served.

At present, security personnel are actively pursuing the four suspects, who managed to flee the scene after the shooting.

According to the state prosecutor’s office, federal security teams have been sent to the region to support the manhunt.

Acts of violence aimed at political leaders and electoral candidates have significantly increased across Mexico over the past few years, reaching alarming levels during last year’s national election season.

While such violent acts mostly occur in rural areas where crime syndicates hold considerable sway, “last month two top aides of the mayor of Mexico City were shot dead in the capital in an escalation of violence which shocked the country.”