MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Mexican authorities on Wednesday were investigating possible links to organized crime in the shooting death of a well-known influencer who was gunned down while live-streaming in front of a fast-food outlet in the northwestern city of Culiac\u00e1n, capital of violence-wracked Sinaloa state.<\/p>\n
C\u00e9sar Gast\u00e9lum, 25, who was shot dead late Tuesday \u2014 apparently targeted by assassins on a motorcycle \u2014 had hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and other platforms. <\/p>\n
He was the latest in a series of internet personalities targeted in Mexico, dramatizing the potential dangers of social media presence and commentary.<\/p>\n
Police were looking into a possible connection to \u201ca faction of a criminal group,\u201d Mexico\u2019s Security Cabinet said Wednesday in a statement, without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Competing factions of the notorious Sinaloa cartel have been engaged in a bloody, almost two-year civil war that has left thousands dead and upended life in Culiac\u00e1n and elsewhere in the state. Mexico\u2019s government has dispatched thousands of additional troops to Sinaloa, but the bolstered security effort has failed to quell the violence.<\/p>\n
Gast\u00e9lum was known for his often-comical musings on a wide range of topics about life in Sinaloa, but authorities said they were focusing on several comments alluding to organized crime.<\/p>\n
Video circulating on social media appeared to capture the moment of the killing, just as Gast\u00e9lum and two collaborators \u2014 dressed in the orange jackets worn by fast-food delivery personnel \u2014 were live-streaming on a busy commercial street. The three were smiling and joking, seemingly unaware of any impending attack, the images indicate.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, a motorcycle carrying two helmeted riders pulls up behind the three and Gast\u00e9lum \u2014 wearing a wide-brimmed, western-style hat \u2014 turns to the vehicle. One of the riders appears to pull out a pistol and shoots the influencer point blank.<\/p>\n
His two colleagues were uninjured, according to Mexican media reports. <\/p>\n
The assassins quickly fled the scene. There was no immediate word on any arrests. <\/p>\n
Mexican gangs often deploy motorcycle hit squads to take out rivals and other targets.<\/p>\n
The attack occurred close to the building housing the Sinaloa state prosecutor\u2019s office, reports indicated.<\/p>\n
Gast\u00e9lum had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok and almost 140,000 on Instagram.<\/p>\n
At her morning news conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed that Gast\u00e9lum\u2019s slaying would not go unpunished. Authorities were seeking both the assassins and masterminds of the crime, according to the president. \u201cWe have to wait for all the information,\u201d Sheinbaum said.<\/p>\n
The killing of Gastelum recalled other strikes against high-profile Mexican social media figures, notably the fatal attack last year against Valeria M\u00e1rquez, 23, a beauty influencer. She was shot as she streamed live on TikTok from her salon in the city of Zapopan, outside Guadalajara in Jalisco state.<\/p>\n
Last week, Mexican authorities said they had arrested Ram\u00f3n Angel \u00c1lvarez Ayala \u2014 identified as the leader of a cell affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel \u2014 in connection with the slaying of M\u00e1rquez. <\/p>\n
The Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels are Mexico\u2019s dominant organized crime syndicates<\/p>\n
M\u00e1rquez\u2019s killing was linked to a romantic relationship between the victim and a son of the detained crime boss, federal Security Secretary Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch told reporters. <\/p>\n
The cell leader was also accused of ordering another sensational killing \u2014 the assassination last year during a Day of the Dead festival of Carlos Manzo, mayor of the city of Uruapan in central Michoac\u00e1n state. Manzo was an outspoken critic of cartel involvement in extortion and other rackets. <\/p>\n