One journalist was murdered and another wounded Saturday in Sonora.

Radio announcer Reynaldo López and reporter Carlos Cota were shot in Hermosillo in an attack that left López dead and Cota in critical condition.

According to authorities, the two journalists were driving on Francisco Reynaldo Serna boulevard when several men armed with automatic weapons opened fire on them from another vehicle, killing López and seriously wounding Cota before fleeing the scene.

Paramedics arriving on the scene rushed Cota to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery.

Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich expressed solidarity with the families of the victims and said that she would personally supervise the state attorney general’s investigation.

Presidential spokesman Jesús Ramírez also lamented the attacks, saying “all aggression against the freedom of speech constitutes a condemnable act . . . . We anxiously await action from the corresponding authorities to investigate these acts.”

Cota was a popular sports reporter for Televisa Sonora for many years.

The attorney general’s office said on Monday it appeared the attack was not connected with the victims’ work. Investigators believe it was related to illegal activities by someone close to one of the two reporters.

Reynaldo López is the third journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year, following the killing of radio host Jesús Ramos Rodríguez in Tabasco a little over a week ago and the assassination of community radio director Rafael Murúa in Baja California in January.

According to the National Human Rights Commission, 144 journalists have been slain in Mexico since 2000, a situation which prompted the Committee to Protect Journalists to classify Mexico as the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for media workers.

Source: Animal Político (sp)