City Official Shot Dead During Basketball Match in Mexico

A city council secretary was shot dead by gunmen during an amateur basketball game on Saturday in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, a region plagued by gang violence.

Ignacio Alejandro Roaro, who served as city council secretary in Apaseo el Grande, was attending a game at a local sports hall when attackers stormed the venue and opened fire in front of stunned spectators, including families and children.

The city council issued a statement condemning the killing, describing it as “treacherous, despicable, and cowardly” and expressing deep sorrow over the loss of “our colleague and friend”.

Local media reported that one suspect, believed to be armed, was arrested shortly after the incident.

Guanajuato, despite being an economic powerhouse and a hub for tourism, has become Mexico’s most violent state in recent years. Turf wars between the Santa Rosa de Lima gang and the Jalisco New Generation cartel have fuelled relentless bloodshed across the region.

The attack comes just weeks after a mass shooting in the city of Irapuato — roughly 80 kilometres from Apaseo el Grande — where 11 people were killed and about 20 others wounded during a neighbourhood party.

In a separate incident in May, authorities discovered the bodies of 17 victims in an abandoned property in Irapuato.

According to official figures, Guanajuato recorded over 3,000 murders last year, accounting for more than 10% of all homicides across Mexico.