VERACRUZ, Mexico — The Mexican police said Thursday that a journalist who ran a local news website was shot to death in the eastern state of Veracruz.

The Veracruz State police said that the journalist, Leobardo Vázquez, was found dead late Wednesday in the town of Gutiérrez Zamora, which is in an area where drug gangs are active.

Ivonne Hernández Durán, Mr. Vázquez’s wife, said she heard shots and found her husband lying near a taco stand he operated out of his home.

Mr. Vázquez previously worked for other news outlets, but he was most recently managing the news site Enlace Informativo Regional.