A mayoral candidate in Mexico was assassinated in the middle of a campaign rally late Wednesday — with disturbing video showing a gunman shooting him in the back of the head at point-blank range.
Alfredo Cabrera was gunned down in front of hundreds of supporters in the town of Coyuca de Benitez in the southern state of Guerrero as he was making the final stop of his campaign, officials and local media said.
Footage of the ordeal showed Cabrera shaking hands with a supporter just seconds before his attacker brazenly approached from behind and pointed the firearm at his head.
The gunman then fired off a slew of shots as terrified supporters screamed out.
Cabrera was pronounced dead at the scene and authorities are still hunting down his killer.
The assassination unfolded just as the mayoral candidate was preparing to address roughly 300 supporters, local outlet Eltiempo reported.
“I strongly condemn the unfortunate events in which the candidate for the municipal presidency of Coyuca de Benítez for the PRI, PAN and PRD coalition, Alfredo Cabrera Barrientos, lost his life,” Gov. Evelyn Salgado said in a statement on X.
“To clarify this cowardly crime and guarantee no impunity, I have asked the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Guerrero to carry out the pertinent investigations to apply the full weight of the law to him or those responsible for this crime.”
Cabrera was a member of an opposition coalition that backs presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez — a center-right senator and businesswoman who is running against President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
His slaying marks the 36th murder of a candidate — mostly running for mayor or town councils — during Mexico’s 2024 election cycle.
Gilberto Palomar, a mayoral candidate in the western state of Jalisco, was shot multiple times by intruders in his campaign offices late Tuesday, according to local officials.
Gunmen also killed an alternate mayoral candidate — Ricardo Arizmendi — in Morelos state, just south of Mexico City, on Tuesday, state prosecutors said.
With Post wires
