MEXICO CITY (AP) – A journalist was shot dead in the southern state of Oaxaca on Thursday, the fifth killed this year in Mexico, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
An official with the Oaxaca state security agency, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the victim was Heber López, director of the online news site Noticias Web.
The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said that two suspects in the killing were in custody and a gun had been recovered from them.
Director of the online news site RCP Noticias Rodolfo Canseco Gutiérrez, who was a long-time friend of López’s, said the journalist covered crime and police news.
Witnesses said that around 6.30pm, López was in his office when a white vehicle carrying two men pulled up in front, Canseco Gutiérrez said. One man got out, walked into the office and shot López, he said.
Canseco Gutiérrez said he had just had breakfast with López on Wednesday. He said his friend had never told him he’d received threats, but he didn’t doubt the killing had to do with his work. He recalled that in June of last year, journalist Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera was killed by gunmen only about 20 minutes from Salina Cruz.
