An alleged assassin asked the mayor of a small town in central Mexico for a photo moments before shooting him to death. The politician was threatened earlier this year by cartel members.

On Tuesday morning, Valle De Chalco Mayor Francisco Tenorio Contreras was touring his municipality when two men asked him to pose for photos and then requested a ride. According to the Mexico State Attorney General’s Office, the mayor told his driver to give the men a lift before one of the gunmen shot the politician en route. The killer later escaped the scene. The mayor died hours later at a local hospital.

Soon after, Mexico State Governor Alfredo Del Mazo publicly condemned the attack and said the attorney general’s office had begun an investigation.

El Gobierno del @Edomex condena la agresión en contra del Pdte Municipal de Valle de Chalco, Fco. Tenorio Contreras. La Fiscalía del Estado ha iniciado las investigaciones para esclarecer estos hechos y dar con los responsables. — Alfredo Del Mazo (@alfredodelmazo) October 29, 2019

Tenorio Contreras previously received threats after authorities arrested members of the Cartel de Tlahuac. The Tlahuac Cartel threatened a journalist in 2017 after he worked to expose connections with various politicians. Also in 2017, the Tlahuac Cartel took part in a fierce gun battle with police in Mexico City after a series of raids targeted their command structure. The clashes occurred while public officials regularly insisted that cartels did not operate in the region.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.