Mexican influencer shot dead while streaming live on social media

A popular Mexican influencer has been shot dead while doing a live stream on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where lethal cartel violence has become widespread.

César Gastélum, who had nearly 600,000 followers on TikTok and was known for making comedy videos, was filming with two friends outside a fast-food restaurant in the city of Culiacán. The three were dressed in the bright orange jackets and backpacks of food delivery drivers.

A motorcycle with a driver and pillion rider suddenly pulled up beside them and the driver pulled out a gun and shot Gastélum at point-blank range.

A security official in Sinaloa confirmed Gastélum’s death to Reuters and said a major security operation was under way.

The killing is the latest example of bloodshed in Culiacán, which has become an epicentre of violence as factions of the Sinaloa cartel battle for control of the city.

Onlookers stand behind a police cordon at the scene of César Gastélum’s killing Photograph: Jesús Bustamante/Reuters

Mexico’s security cabinet wrote on X that it was investigating several of Gastélum’s posts, “some of which referred to a faction of a criminal group”. It also said video surveillance footage and other evidence were being analysed to identify and apprehend those responsible.

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said on Wednesday that authorities were investigating the killing and working to identify the killer.

“The actual perpetrators, and if applicable the mastermind, must be arrested, and the reason behind this tragic homicide must be uncovered,” she said in her morning press conference.

At least 12 social media influencers have been murdered in Culiacán since two factions of the Sinaloa cartel began their battle in September 2024, according to local media.

They have also been targeted in Jalisco state. Valeria Márquez, 23, was shot and killed at a beauty salon last year while live-streaming on TikTok, where she had thousands of followers.

Authorities announced last week that they had arrested Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, the leader of a criminal cell with links to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, in relation to the killing.

They also accused him of ordering and financing the November 2025 assassination of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, the second largest city in Michoacán state, in a killing that shocked the country.