A bride was left screaming with her wedding dress spattered with blood after a cartel gunman stormed her wedding and gunned down her new husband in front of her eyes.
Marco Antonio Rosales Contreras, 32, was leaving the Neustra Señora de La Candelaria church in Caborca, Mexico after exchanging vows when the lone gunman struck - riddling him with multiple bullets.
Investigators believe the hit was a "direct attack" but that they meant to assassinate a different target, El Universal report s.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a single unknown male firing the shots before he turned and ran along the street.
Paramedics pronounced the computer engineer dead while en route to the hospital.
A harrowing video clip shows his heartbroken wife crying hysterically as she's escorted from the church.
Her elegant white bridal gown can be seen stained with her husband's blood.
Michelle Adriana, 23, the groom's sister, was also hit in the back. She was rushed to hospital for treatment and released just a few hours later.
State officials said that no line of investigation over the "direct attack" has been ruled out.
The Sonora Attorney Generals Office released a statement, saying: “Investigations indicate that the attack against Marco Antonio was directed towards another individual who was also getting married at the same time in a different nearby city."
Authorities said a similar incident occurred on the same night in a neighbouring town as another groom was shot.
Caborca is situated in northwest Mexico, where an infamous cartel rule the streets.
The Caborca Cartel is run by veteran drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who some have branded the "narco of narcos".
He is currently in custody in Mexico and is expected to be extradited to face trial over the 1985 slaying of a US Drug Enforcement Agency official.
Violence has surged in Caborca as the homegrown cartel wages war on the notorious Sinaloa Cartel as they move in on their patch - which is the area's border region with the US.
Just last month, locals made another horrific discovery as they found 20 bags of human remains in a hidden grave in Mexico.
Cops have launched an investigation into the remains following the discovery by search teams in the city of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga.
Members of the Search Mothers Collectives of Jalisco confirmed the bags were full of blood after the search team were called to a home in the Jalisco state.
Upon entering the grave, search teams found more than 20 bags of human remains - including six gruesome skulls, according to group leader Cecilia Flores.
Cecilia told Borderland Beat: "There are more than 20 bags, but many were buried.
“We don't know how many bodies are involved, but we were able to see six skulls among the bags.”
