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Gunmen Kill Mexico Mayor Gisela Mota One Day After Taking Office: Report

Several mayors were killed last year in Mexico, where armed gangs financed by the drugs trade control many local communities.
Image: Gisela Mota
Gisela Mota waves during her swearing in ceremony as mayor of Temixco, Morelos State, Mexico.Tony Rivera / AP
/ Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY — The newly installed mayor of the Mexican city of Temixco was killed on Saturday, according to a tweet from Morelos state Governor Graco Ramirez.

Image: Gisela Mota
Gisela Mota waves during her swearing in ceremony as mayor of Temixco, Morelos State, Mexico.Tony Rivera / AP

Gisela Mota formally took office with the new year on Friday. Mexico City newspaper EL Universal said she was attacked at her home by four armed gunmen.

Several mayors were killed last year in Mexico, where armed gangs financed by the drugs trade control many local communities.

Related: Amid Dissatisfaction, Violence, Mexico Holds Elections Sunday

Temixco, located some 60 miles south of Mexico City, has a population of about 100,000.

Mota, a former federal member of Congress, belonged to the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution.

Officials with the Morelos attorney general's office did not immediately return calls seeking additional information about her death.