Mexico arrested a man who allegedly shot and killed an influencer during a live broadcast, authorities said Wednesday. César Gastélum was attacked on August 4 while broadcasting live in Culiacán, the capital of the state of Sinaloa, which has been a battleground for warring drug trafficking factions. Gastelum, who had more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, was dressed as a food deliveryman and was participating in a social media challenge with two friends when a motorcycle pulled up next to him. In the recording of the live broadcast, seen by the Reuters news agency, the motorcycle driver appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the alleged killer was in the central Mexican state of Puebla. During the arrest operation, police officers were attacked by three armed individuals and killed one of them, Harfuch wrote in X. Authorities arrested Gastelum’s alleged killer and another person. Three firearms, ammunition and vehicles were seized at the scene, Harfuch said. Forensic technicians and police work at the crime scene where Mexican social media influencer César Gastelum was shot dead while livestreaming with friends in Culiacán, Sinaloa state, August 4, 2026. Jesús Bustamante/REUTERS Preliminary investigation showed the influencer’s murder was linked to his social media posts “alluding to a faction of a criminal group,” Mexico’s security ministry said. An expanding war between the two main factions of the Sinaloa Cartel and associated armed groups has left thousands dead or missing in the northwestern state, even as President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks to contain criminal violence. The cartel was founded by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is now imprisoned in the United States. Influencers persecuted in Mexico Culiacán is ground zero for the “narcoculture” that celebrates the lives of drug traffickers, and Mexican media reports that social media influencers are often linked to feuding criminal gangs, leading to acts of intimidation or settling scores. About a dozen influencers have been murdered in recent years in Sinaloa, local media reported. Last year, Mexican social media influencer Valeria Márquez was shot and killed in a beauty salon during a livestream on TikTok, where she had tens of thousands of followers. Prosecutors said she appeared to have been killed by a hitman and expressed fear before she was killed. Mexican social media influencer Valeria Márquez, 23, who was brazenly shot to death during a TikTok live stream at the beauty salon where she worked in the city of Zapopan, looks on in this image obtained from social media. @v___marquez/via Instagram/via REUTERS In July, authorities announced the arrest in Jalisco of Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, whom officials linked to Márquez’s murder, as well as the November 2025 murder of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, Reuters reported. Márquez’s murder shocked Mexico, where murders and kidnappings are commonplace, and highlighted both its femicide epidemic and growing violence against influential people. In January 2025, a small plane reportedly dropped pamphlets in Culiacán threatening about 20 artists and YouTubers for alleged dealings with a warring faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Influential people have been attacked in other parts of Latin America. Last year in Venezuela, police arrested an alleged accomplice in the murder of a TikTok influencer who was killed during a livestream after reporting members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang and allegedly corrupt police officers. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In:
