A gunman kills a Mexican social media influencer during a livestream
[August 06, 2026]
By MEGAN JANETSKY
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A gunman killed a social media influencer during a
live stream in Mexico's volatile northwestern state of Sinaloa,
authorities said Wednesday, a public killing that underscored ongoing
violence targeting social media personalities in the Latin American
nation.
The influencer, César Gastélum, was killed on Tuesday night in the
Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan, officials said. Mexican authorities
implied the killing of the young man was linked to cartel violence but
did not blame any particular group.
A video of the moment of his death, which was viewed by The Associated
Press, shows him laughing with two other men in the parking lot of a
Kentucky Fried Chicken when two men pull up on a motorcycle. One is seen
pulling out a gun and shooting Gastélum. The attackers then flee the
scene.
The attack was carried out just blocks away from the local prosecutor's
office during rush hour.
Mexico’s Security Cabinet and local prosecutors said an investigation
was ongoing, and that it appeared Gastélum had released some videos in
which he “alluded to a faction of a criminal group.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists during her morning
news conference on Wednesday that the “perpetrators must be arrested.”
"We must find out why this deplorable homicide occurred,” she said.
Gastélum had more than 650,000 followers on TikTok, and more on
Instagram and other social media platforms and would regularly post
comedy videos and content layered over Mexican regional music. He at
times referred to himself in his videos as “bélico,” a term often used
in subcultures in Mexico to imply a connection to cartel culture.
Messages of “rest in peace” were posted on Gastélum's social media
accounts on Wednesday.
Sinaloa has in recent years been ravaged by warring between two factions
of the Sinaloa Cartel. At the height of the fighting, dead bodies would
be left across the city marked with a faction's signature. One of them,
Los Chapitos, would regularly leave a pizza or a pizza box on a dead
body. The other, Los Mayos, would leave behind a sombrero, and it soon
became dangerous to wear the hats in Culiacan as it could signify
allegiance to one group.
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Candles sit near the spot where César Gastélum, a social media
influencer, was killed the previous night in Culiacán, Mexico,
Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Ibarra)
On Tuesday night, Gastélum was filmed wearing a white sombrero.
On Wednesday, candles were lit on the pavement where he was killed.
It was the second time in little more than a year that a content
creator was fatally shot by gunmen on a live stream.
In May 2025, 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Márquez was shot
and killed while doing a TikTok livestream at a beauty salon in the
central Mexican state of Jalisco.
The killing comes at a time when Mexico’s government is under
mounting pressure by the Trump administration to crack down on
cartel violence.
Gastélum's death is part of a larger trend by criminal groups
targeting influencers, especially in regions like Sinaloa and
Jalisco dominated by organized crime.
Mexican security analyst David Saucedo said influencers are killed
or threatened for a wide range of reasons. In some cases, the
targeted influencers may have had ties to one criminal faction in a
disputed region, producing social media content for them or having
romantic relationships with cartel members. In others, influencers
launder money for cartels or disseminate information similar to a
journalist.
“Cartels are interested in dictating and controlling ... the regions
where they operate," Saucedo said. The aim is to turn them "into
channels for disseminating criminal messages.”
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Associated Press journalist Aarón Ibarra in Culiacan, Mexico,
contributed to this report.
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