The mayor of Tecalitlán, Jalisco, was assassinated yesterday by armed civilians who fired at least 30 times, killing Víctor Guadalupe Díaz Contreras and wounding a municipal employee.

Jalisco Attorney General Fausto Mancilla said the 28-year-old mayor had not reported threats or any type of aggression against him, although the windows of a vehicle belonging to his brother had been smashed on Sunday night.

Mancilla described the attack on the Institutional Revolutionary Party mayor as “cunning and vile.

Tecalitlán is the town where three Italians disappeared in January. At the time Díaz insisted that their disappearance was an isolated incident and that municipal police were not involved.

Four local police were later arrested and charged. The Italians are believed to have been turned over by police to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The police chief and another officer remain at large.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)