Mexico City, September 3, 2026—Mexican authorities must immediately and credibly investigate the killing of photographer and content creator Ricardo Zúñiga, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday. Zúñiga was shot dead by unknown assailants on Saturday in the municipality of Tehuitzingo, in the central Mexican state of Puebla, according to
news
reports
.
Zúñiga was the sixth journalist killed in Mexico in less than three months and the second in Puebla state this Summer,
according to CPJ research
.
According to the reports, Zúñiga, 35, was attacked while inside a business he owned in Santa Cruz Apotoltitlán, a small town within the Thuitzingo municipality, approximately 100 miles southeast of Mexico City. According to
a report by news website
La Silla Rota
, two attackers approached him, fired multiple rounds and fled the scene after the attack. Zúñiga was hit once and died in the hospital of his injuries, according to the report.
“The shocking killing of Ricardo Zúñiga continues Mexico’s appalling streak of killings of journalists in rapid succession this Summer and underscores the country’s abysmal record of investigating and prosecuting deadly attacks against the press,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “Unless the Mexican government finally decides to take decisive action, the cycle of deadly violence and impunity will only continue.”
Ricardo Zúñiga was a photographer and content creator known locally for his multimedia productions on cultural events, including photos, videos and drone footage, which he shared on his
Facebook page
with over 13,000 followers, his
YouTube channel
and
Instagram account
. Although he mostly covered cultural and society events, he sometimes posted comments
critical of the municipal government
, including criticism of
local security policies
,
garbage collection
and
alleged abusive behavior by local police.
On May 9 of this year, he posted on his Facebook page that he was
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