Mexican mayoral candidate executed at campaign event days after ruling political party requested security in latest murder of politician before election

A mayoral candidate was gunned down at a campaign event in north-central Mexican state of Guanajuato just hours after she had requested security protection.

Gisela Gaytán was walking on a street Monday afternoon, the second day of her campaign for mayor of Celaya, when gunmen approached her on two motorcycles and opened fire before fleeing.

Footage captured by a bystander showed at least two wounded men on the street pavement and Gaytán lying face down in a pool of blood. Another woman, who appeared to have been shot, was found sitting on the floor of a store.

A spokesperson with the Guanajuato Attorney General's Office told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that no arrests had been made.

Hours before the shooting, Gaytán announced on Facebook he had met with business owners of a local market to declare that changes were on the way for Celaya, which ranked as the world's most dangerous city in 2023 with 109.4 homicides per every 100,000 residents.

'Together, with determination and commitment, we will make the change we long for a reality,' she said. 'We want a Celaya where each person has the opportunity to prosper, we want transformation.'

Gisela Gaytán became the latest public office candidate murdered in Mexico ahead of the June elections when she was executed on a street while campaigning in the city of Celaya on Monday

Diego Pérez is one of at least 15 candidates in Mexico who have been killed since the start of 2024. Pérez was running for office in the southern state of Chiapas and was found dead March 14. His wife and son were wounded

Tomás Morales  aspired to become the mayor of Chilapa, a municipality in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, and was shot dead in front of his home March 12

Gaytán, who was running under the ruling Morena party, apparently had an uphill battle in a municipality where the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel exerts its control and murdered the son of Mayor Javier Mendoza in August 2022.

Law enforcement sources told Mexican news outlet Milenio that the attack took place in an area of the city influenced by the criminal organization.

Security analyst David Saucedo told the outlet that Gaytán had been threatened in the past by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel for refusing to align herself with them.

Authorities recovered one of the two motorcycles and were looking into whether the bullet shell casings match others that were recovered from previous criminal incidents.

Adrián Guerrero, a Morena candidate for the Celaya city council, was initially reported dead by Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez on Tuesday, but he was found safely at the state prosecutor's office in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende.

A forensic technician works at a scene where Celaya's mayor candidate for the ruling party Morena, Gisela Gaytán, was shot dead Tuesday

Guillermo Torres, the mayor of Churumuco, was shot to death at a taco restaurant Saturday

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador the shooting during his daily press briefing Tuesday.

'These events are very regrettable, because these are people who are fighting to defend democracy, they're out on the street, face to face,' López Obrador said.

The killing was the latest in the increasingly bloody runup to Mexico´s June 2 elections.

At least 15 candidates have been killed since the start of 2024 - and expressions of regret have become routine.

Diego Pérez, the Institutional Revolutionary Party's candidate for mayor in the southern city of San Juan Cancuc, was found shot dead and tortured March 14. His wife and son were wounded.

Armando Pérez, the candidate for the National Action Party in Maravatío, Michoacán, is one seven Mexican politicians who have been murdered since January

Tomás Morales, who aspired to become the mayor in the Pacific coast city of Chilapa under Morena, was executed in front of his home March 12.

At least 34 candidates have quit from seeking office in the western state of Michoacán , according to data released by the state's electoral board and political parties March 25.

Another 12 dropped out of the mayoral and city council races last Tuesday in the central state of Morelos.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Gaytán's assassination, but Mexico´s drug cartels have often focused assassination attempts on mayors and mayoral candidates, in a bid to control local police or extort money from municipal governments.

López Obrador acknowledged that drug cartels often seek to determine who will serve as mayor - either by running their own candidate or eliminating potential rivals.

'They make an agreement and say, `this person is going to be mayor; we don't want anyone else to register to run,' and anybody who does, well, they know' what to expect, the president said.

The recent slayings have prompted the government to provide bodyguards or bulletproof cars for some, but candidates for municipal positions - while the most endangered - are the last in line for security.

The Morena party leadership issued a statement, calling the killing 'cowardly,' and calling for an investigation.

Rodríguez, the federal security secretary, said Tuesday the government has taken on the commitment to respond to protection requests within 72 hours. She said more than 100 candidates nationwide have asked for protection.

Guanajuato has for some time had the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico.

Celaya is arguably the most dangerous place, per capita, to be a police officer in North America. At least 34 police officers have been killed in this city of 500,000 people in the last three years.

Guanajuato, with a population of just over 6 million, registered 60 cop murders in 2023.

The state has been wracked for years by violent turf battles between the Jalisco drug cartel and the homegrown Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.

Violence against politicians is widespread in Mexico.

Over the weekend, Guillermo Torres, the mayor of Churumuco, a town in the neighboring state of Michoacán, was shot to death at a taco restaurant in the state capital, Morelia.

In late February in another town in Michoacán, two mayoral hopefuls were shot to death within hours of each other.