The mayor of a municipality in Mexico was slain by armed men inside her home on Saturday — one day after taking office.
Gisela Mota Ocampo was sworn into office Friday to lead Temixco, a city of nearly 100,000 people 60 miles south of Mexico City.
The attackers entered her house Saturday morning while her family was present and killed her in the doorway, said Alberto Capella, Morelos state security commissioner, at a press briefing.
Police pursued and exchanged gunfire with the armed men, killing two of them, he said. Two adults and a juvenile were arrested and will be prosecuted, said Javier Perez Duron, Morelos attorney general.
The Morelos state government issued a statement praising Mota Ocampo as “an honest and committed public servant” and calling the attack “a challenge that organized crime launched against the constitutional and democratic order.”
“The government of the State of Morelos states categorically that we will not compromise or give a single step back in building a secure entity, in peace and harmony,” the statement said.
Morelos state is known for drug cartel activity. Several years ago, a 14-year-old assassin for a drug cartel created international interest with his on-camera descriptions of killings he’d committed.
