Mexican journalist shot to death in Salina Cruz studio

by: Associated Press

Posted: Feb 14, 2022 / 02:38 PM CST

Updated: Feb 14, 2022 / 02:39 PM CST

Tributes were paid on Saturday for a Mexican journalist who was killed inside his studio in Barrio Espinal, in the municipality of Salina Cruz, located in the isthmus of Tehuatepec, Oaxaca — the fifth journalist murdered so far this year in the country.

Heber López was remodeling his studio when two men arrived and shot him five times, then tried to flee in a white van, but were detained by municipal police 20 blocks away.

One of the detainees is the brother of a municipal official.

Heber López had publicly denounced the official as having links with criminal cells dedicated to fuel theft and drug dealing.

Journalists from Salina Cruz went to the offices of the prosecutor’s office to protest and demand a serious investigation and the arrest of all those involved in the crime.

On Jan. 31, Roberto Toledo, a camera operator and video editor for the online site Monitor Michoacan was shot by assailants as he prepared for an interview in Zitacuaro, Michoacan.

In the border city of Tijuana, crime photographer Margarito Martínez was gunned down outside his home Jan. 17. On Jan. 23, reporter Lourdes Maldonado López was found shot to death inside her car also in Tijuana.

Reporter José Luis Gamboa was killed in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz in an attack Jan. 10.