A local mayor in Mexico, Alejandro Aparicio Santiago, was shot dead on his first day of office on New Year’s Day.
Santiago, Mayor of Tlaxiaco, was walking to his first official meeting at city hall shortly after taking office when a group of gunmen opened fire on him, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office of Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca.
Between September 2017 and August 2018, 175 politicians were killed in Mexico, NPR reported, citing the consulting firm Etellek.
Governor Alejandro Murat of Oaxaca confirmed the killing of Santiago via Twitter on Tuesday and condemned the murder. He promised a thorough investigation, noting that a suspect was already in custody.