Five individuals were shot and killed in Huitzilac, a town located south of Mexico's capital, prompting the closure of schools and several businesses on Tuesday, with only a few residents daring to venture outside. This incident took place on the same street where another attack had resulted in the deaths of eight people just eight months earlier.
Huitzilac is located in Morelos state, a region troubled by rival criminal groups and illegal logging.
The victims in the Monday attack -- four men and one woman -- who were killed were said to be campaigning for local positions managing the community's resources, such as the surrounding forest, ahead of an election scheduled for March.
On Monday afternoon, the group was walking door to door to promote their campaign, when they were intercepted by gunmen in two vehicles and shot dead.
Blanca Delgadillo - whose son-in-law José Cuevas, a farmer, was among those killed - said, "I told them years ago not to participate, there are always problems," CBS News reported.
The 70-year-old Delgadillo said that violence has increasingly dominated the farming community in recent years, instilling fear among its 20,000 residents.
Mayor César Dávila Díaz, who began his term on Jan. 1, condemned the attack in a social media post, saying such incidents hurt the town's reputation as a hotspot for violence. However, he denied the presence of drug cartels, ruled out a political motive, and admitted he didn't know the reason behind the attack.
A TODA LA CIUDADANIA DE HUITZILAC
On Tuesday morning, bloodstains and five candles were seen on the street where the victims were killed. To help with security, 200 members of the National Guard were arriving to assist local and state police in patrolling the area.
José Romero, a 53-year-old farmer who lives just steps away from the scene, recounted hearing gunshots while watching TV. He emphasized that the town's security relies heavily on the presence of security forces.
Romero noted that attacks like this occur when the National Guard is absent. A similar incident took place last May, targeting men drinking beer after a soccer match, resulting in four deaths at the scene and four others succumbing later in the hospital, according to the Morelos prosecutor's office.
This attack happened just two weeks before Mexico's presidential election.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken on a challenging security situation. Across Mexico, criminal groups compete for control of territories used to smuggle migrants, drugs, and weapons, while also extorting local communities.
Sheinbaum's administration has been more aggressive against these organizations than her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but violence remains widespread.
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