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César Gastélum livestream killing
A gunman killed Mexican social media influencer César Gastélum during a livestream in Mexico’s northwestern state of Sinaloa, authorities said Wednesday, after the shooting happened Tuesday night in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan.
“César Gastélum was killed on Tuesday night in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan”
The Associated Press said a video viewed by the agency showed Gastélum laughing with two other men in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken when two men pulled up on a motorcycle, one pulled out a gun, and shot him before the attackers fled.
Authorities said the attack took place just blocks away from the local prosecutor’s office during rush hour, and Mexico’s Security Cabinet and local prosecutors said an investigation was ongoing.
The AP reported that Gastélum had more than 650,000 followers on TikTok and would regularly post comedy videos and content layered over Mexican regional music, and that he at times referred to himself in his videos as “bélico.”
President Sheinbaum and ongoing probe
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists during a Wednesday morning news conference that “We must find out why this deplorable homicide occurred,” and she said “Perpetrators must be arrested.”
The Associated Press reported that Mexico’s Security Cabinet and local prosecutors said it appeared Gastélum had released some videos in which he “alluded to a faction of a criminal group.”
Al Jazeera said Gastelum was shot dead on Tuesday in Culiacan, the capital of Mexico’s volatile Sinaloa state, and that the shooting took place near the local prosecutor’s office.
Al Jazeera also described Sinaloa as ravaged by warring between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel—Los Mayos and Los Chapitos—leaving dead bodies across the city marked with either faction’s signature.
Pattern of livestream killings
The Associated Press said it was the second time in little more than a year that a content creator was fatally shot by gunmen on a live stream, after the May 2025 killing of 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Márquez in Jalisco.
“It was the second time in little more than a year that a content creator was fatally shot”
Al Jazeera reported that in May 2025, Valeria Marquez was shot dead while livestreaming on TikTok at a beauty salon in the central Mexican state of Jalisco, and that soon after the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against five leaders of a Mexican drug cartel including the prime suspect in Marquez’s murder.
The Associated Press said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo told it that influencers are killed or threatened for a wide range of reasons, including cases where targeted influencers may have had ties to one criminal faction in a disputed region.
Al Jazeera added that the US Treasury Department said Ricardo Ruiz Velasco was the prime suspect in the murder of Marquez, and it reported that the Trump administration announced rewards of up to $102m for information leading to the arrest or conviction of eight CJNG leaders.