Following the murder of popular Uruapan Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo, state authorities linked his brutal killing to organized crime.
The teenage attacker who carried out the assassination was a known methamphetamine addict and was shot and killed by the mayor’s security detail.
Michoacan state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña named the gunman as 17-year-old Víctor Manuel Ubaldo Vidales, who was shot and killed by the mayor’s security detail.
Without providing further detail, Torres Piña said at a news conference on Thursday that more than two people were involved and the attack was tied to organized crime, Torres Piña said at a news conference on Thursday.
Investigators have said the gun used to kill Manzo has been linked to two earlier armed clashes between rival organized crime groups operating in Michoacan.
Manzo was shot Saturday night in the town’s historic center in front of dozens of people gathered for Day of the Dead festivities. Manzo was hit seven times and died later at a hospital.
Manzo’s wife assumed his position as mayor on Wednesday.
Seven mayors have been killed in Michoacan during the past three years. Mayors are especially vulnerable to organized crime groups in Mexico that seek to control territory to move drugs and extort residents and businesses.
In recent months, Manzo had publicly appealed to Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum on social media for help to confront the cartels and criminal groups.
Last month, Michoacan was shaken by the killing of a popular and outspoken leader of lime growers, who also suffered extortion from the cartels.
During the last few years, the Mexican federal government has sent hundreds of troops to Michoacan but it hasn’t been enough to control the cells of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Familia Michoacana and local criminal organizations that operate in the state. The state’s persistent violence has resisted interventions from successive administrations.
