Aristoteles Sandoval, the former governor of Mexico’s troubled western state of Jalisco was shot dead in a restaurant bathroom in the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta on Friday.
State attorney general Gerardo Octavio Solis said that Sandoval was dining with four others when at around 1:40 am he got up from the table and went to the toilet, where the killer shot him in the back.
Although only one gunman fired at Sandoval, he may have been accompanied by as many as nine accomplices who waited outside the restaurant, Solis said.
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Sandoval did not die immediately, but when his bodyguards tried to evacuate him from the restaurant, their escape was blocked by more gunmen in the street outside, who opened fire, seriously injuring one of the bodyguards. The former governor died soon afterwards at a local hospital.
According to officials, Sandoval had 15 police bodyguards assigned to him as well as bulletproof vehicles. Two of the bodyguards were present but were outside the restaurant when the attack took place.
Solis said that staff at the restaurant cleaned the crime scene, removing blood and bullet casings, and erasing video of the attack. “There are no clues - they practically swept the place clean,” Solis told Televisa. He said eight to 10 suspects were involved in the attack but did not indicate who was responsible.
Jalisco is the heartland of one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal gangs, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The gang controls much of the state since it rose to power during the former governor’s term from 2013 to 2018. Mexico has been marred by gang violence for years. More than 34,500 murders were reported last year, but the country already set a new record as during the first six months of 2020 there were more than 17,400 murders - a 1.7 percent increase compared with the same period last year. - Aljazeera, The Guardian Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com
