MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s human rights commission on Saturday condemned the killing of a police beat reporter in western Mexico, the latest in a string of journalists shot down in acts that may be connected to their work.

Reporter Maximino Rodriguez was gunned down while in his car in a shopping center parking lot on Friday afternoon in the state capital of La Paz, about 100 miles (160 km) from the beach resort of Cabo San Lucas.

A journalist with news and opinion website Colectivo Pericu, Rodriguez was in the car with his wife, but she was not harmed when gunmen opened fire from a white pick-up truck, according to a report of the incident posted on the website.

Rodriguez is the fourth journalist killed in the last two months in Mexico, where organized crime and endemic corruption have contributed to the country’s status as one of the most dangerous for journalists.

Since 2000, more than 120 Mexican journalists have been killed, according to data from the human rights commission.