Mexican Reporter Gunned Down, Even With a Security Detail at His Side

Alejandro Martínez was no stranger to covering the kind of news that took him to crime scenes and fatal accidents across Celaya, a city in central Mexico that has become a cauldron of violence as murder cases pile up.

His job was so dangerous that he had his own government-appointed security detail, which usually drove him to his reporting locations. But even the police officers assigned to protect him were not enough to stop unknown gunmen from killing Mr. Martínez, 57, on Sunday.

Shortly after wrapping up a Facebook livestream covering a traffic accident on a highway near the city, Mr. Martínez was shot in the police vehicle that was taking him back to Celaya by assailants who approached in another car. The two transit police officers in the vehicle were also wounded.

“Well, friends, I’m leaving now,” he had told his viewers just minutes earlier on what would be his last livestream. “I really thank you for your attention and for putting up with the nonsense I say.”

Celaya’s security ministry said in a statement that the two police officers immediately took Mr. Martínez to a hospital, but he died shortly after. At least three bullet holes were visible on the vehicle, according to local media.

A team of forensic experts and prosecutors was assigned to investigate his murder and find the killers, said the attorney general’s office in Guanajuato, the state where Celaya is. It is yet unclear whether Mr. Martínez was the intended target of the attack or if the gunmen were after the police officers with him.