Authorities in Oaxaca have commenced investigation into the killing of Jose Angel Bravo Martinez, the mayor of San Miguel Amatitlan, after he was shot on Saturday during an attack in the Mixteca region of Southern Mexico.

The prosecutor’s office in Oaxaca, in a statement later in the day, said after receiving information about the murder, “immediately activated the protocols for the investigation of crimes of high impact.”

The prosecutor’s office also stated that investigators and forensic ‌teams, in coordination with federal security officials, were dispatched to the scene shortly after the attack to gather evidence and recover the body, as well as “to seal off escape routes and locate those responsible.”

State governor, Salomon Jara, in a post on X on Saturday, extended his condolences and full solidarity to the family and friends of the deceased, adding that he has directed that all necessary support be given to authorities to aid investigation.

Condemning the assassination, the governor said, “I have instructed the State Security Cabinet to provide all necessary support to the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Oaxaca in the investigations that are already underway.

“From the very first moment, an inter-agency operation was deployed in the area with the aim of locating and apprehending those responsible, as well as ensuring that this crime does not go unpunished. In Oaxaca, we will not violence to prevail over the law or over the will of our communities.”

He reiterated his commitment to continue working with state and federal institutions to preserve peace, strengthen security, and ensure that such acts are punished with the full weight of the law.

Criminal groups involved in terrorising Oaxaca, which borders the Pacific Ocean, are the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, also known as the CJNG, and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Authorities did not provide further details about motive behind the killing, but the drug cartels in the area have been violently battling for the control of trafficking routes.

The killing of the mayor came weeks after his party, the National Action Party (PAN), issued a statement stating that the mayor feared for his life and requested protection from the state government.

In May, the mayor of another Oaxaca town, Santiago Amoltepec, Mario Hernandez Garcia, was also killed in an ⁠attack that also left two other ⁠people dead, while almost 100 mayors have been assassinated in Mexico since 2006, when drug violence worsened in the country.