A Mexican social media influencer was shot and killed in the middle of a livestream on a street in broad daylight.
Cesar Gastelum, who had amassed 600,000 followers on TikTok with his comedy videos, was streaming live outside a fast food restaurant in the northwestern city of Culiacan on Tuesday when he was killed.
Attack Details
Two people on a motorbike, both wearing helmets, drove up to him and his friends and opened fire. The driver of the motorcycle appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum’s head in a recording of the livestream.
Culiacán is a centre for drug cartel activity in Mexico, it is the capital of Sinaloa, where rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have fuelled escalating violence. A security official in Sinaloa state confirmed Gastelum's death and added that a significant security operation had been launched.
Background of Violence
Violence erupted in Sinaloa following the abduction of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in 2024 by a son of former cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Zambada was handed over to US authorities and his faction of the cartel went to war with the faction led by Guzmán’s sons. As violence spiralled US President Donald Trump designated the Sinaloa Cartel, among others, a foreign terrorist organization.
Echoes of Previous Killing
The killing of influencer Cesar Gastelum has grim echoes of the 2025 murder of Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Marquez, who was shot to death during a TikTok livestream at the salon where she worked in Zapopan, in the western state of Jalisco.
Marquez, 23, was killed after a man entered the salon and opened fire, according to prosecutors. In July, Mexican authorities announced the arrest in Jalisco of Ramon Angel Alvarez Ayala, known as "El R-1," whom Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch identified as the leader of a criminal cell linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Authorities have linked Alvarez Ayala to the killing of Marquez and accused him of ordering and financing the November 2025 murder of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo.
