Ricardo Zúñiga shot dead in Puebla, sixth Mexican journalist killed in less than three months

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 threatened by individuals, whom he did not identify, who told him that he should stop posting such critical messages and that he should “stay out of politics.”

CPJ made several telephone calls to the Tehuitzingo municipal government, but the calls were not answered.

Ruth Zenteno, the federal Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), which operates under the auspices of the Federal Attorney General’s office (FGR), told CPJ that state authorities in Puebla had opened an investigation and that her office was in contact with them about the case. A request for comment via messaging app to the Puebla state prosecutor’s office has not yet received a reply.