Mexican crime reporter becomes the fifth journalist to be murdered in the country this year after assassin walks in to his office and opens fire
- Crime reporter Heber López was killed in the south state of Oaxaca on Thursday
- Two suspects in the killing were arrested, a gun was taken from them, police said
- López allegedly received death threats for his work covering crime, police news
- He is the fifth Mexican journalist to be killed in the nation since the start of 2022
A Mexican crime reporter has become the fifth journalist to be murdered in the country this year after an assassin walked into his office and opened fire.
Heber López, the director of the online news site Noticias Web, was shot dead in the southern state of Oaxaca on Thursday, the state prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said that two suspects in the killing were in custody and a gun had been recovered from them.
Rodolfo Canseco Gutiérrez, director of the online news site RCP Noticias and a longtime friend of López's, said the journalist covered crime and police news.
Witnesses said that around 6:30pm, López was in his office when a white vehicle carrying two men pulled up in front, Canseco Gutiérrez said.
One man got out, walked into the office and shot López, he said.
Mexican crime reporter Heber López (pictured, right) has become the fifth journalist to be murdered in the country this year after an assassin walked into his office and opened fire
López, the director of the online news site Noticias Web, was shot dead in his office (pictured, police outside) in the southern state of Oaxaca on Thursday
Witnesses said that around 6:30pm, López was in his office when a white vehicle carrying two men pulled up in front, Canseco Gutiérrez said (pictured, police at the site)
Canseco Gutiérrez said he had just had breakfast with López on Wednesday. He said his friend had never told him he had received threats, but he did not doubt the killing had to do with his work.
He recalled that in June of last year, journalist Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera was killed by gunmen only about 20 minutes from Salina Cruz.
López's murder follows those of four journalists in January.
On January 31, Roberto Toledo, a camera operator and video editor for the online site Monitor Michoacan was shot by assailants as he prepared for an interview in Zitacuaro, Michoacan.
The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said that two suspects in the killing were in custody and a gun had been recovered from them (pictured, police at the site)
López, the director of the online news site Noticias Web, is the fifth Mexican journalist to be killed this year
In the border city of Tijuana, crime photographer Margarito Martínez was gunned down outside his home January 17.
On January 23, reporter Lourdes Maldonado López was found shot to death inside her car also in Tijuana.
Reporter José Luis Gamboa was killed in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz in an attack January 10.
Jan-Albert Hootsen, Mexico representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said via Twitter: 'The first six weeks of 2022 have been the deadliest for the Mexican press in over a decade.'
Canseco Gutiérrez said he had just had breakfast with López on Wednesday. He said his friend had never told him he had received threats, but he did not doubt the killing had to do with his work (pictured, police at the site of the killing on Thursday)
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