Mexican mayor shot, killed during Day of the Dead festivities

Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, the mayor of Michoacán, was often seen wearing a bulletproof vest and expressed fears for his own safety.

A mayor in Mexico was shot dead in a plaza in front of dozens of people who had gathered for the Day of the Dead festivities, authorities said.

Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, the mayor of the Uruapan municipality of Mexico’s western state of Michoacán, was gunned down Saturday night in the town’s historic centre. Manzo Rodríguez, 40, was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, according to state prosecutor Carlos Torres Piña.

A city council member and a bodyguard were also injured in the attack on Saturday.

The person who shot Manzo Rodríguez was killed at the scene, Federal Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said during a news conference on Sunday.

Manzo Rodríguez was shot seven times by an unidentified man, García Harfuch said. The weapon used was linked to two armed clashes between rival criminal groups operating in the region, he added.

“No line of investigation is being ruled out to clarify this cowardly act that took the life of the mayor,” García Harfuch said.

“We send our deepest condolences to his family, loved ones and the residents of Uruapan, who today are experiencing a painful and unjust loss at the hands of organized crime,” García Harfuch added. “There will be no impunity.”

Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, the state’s governor, said that Manzo Rodríguez’s assailant was working with two other suspects, who have been arrested.