{"id":28714,"date":"2026-08-05T15:52:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T10:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=28714"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:52:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T10:52:38","slug":"popular-social-media-influencer-shot-dead-during-livestream-outside-restaurant-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=28714","title":{"rendered":"Popular social media influencer shot dead during livestream outside restaurant in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A Mexican influencer was shot dead on Tuesday while streaming live on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-designates-juarez-cartel-los-viagras-foreign-terrorist-organizations\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">cartel<\/a><\/span> and gang violence is rife.<\/p>\n<p> Cesar Gastelum, who had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting with two friends \u2014 all dressed as food delivery workers as part of a challenge.<\/p>\n<p> Video circulating online showed a motorcycle carrying two people pull up beside them. In the recording of the livestream, seen by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/mexican-influencer-cesar-gastelum-shot-death-during-livestream-2026-08-05\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reuters news agency<\/a>, the driver of the motorcycle appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum.<\/p>\n<p> Local police confirmed Gastelum&#8217;s death.<\/p>\n<p> The livestream was halted and later removed by the platform, though footage and images of the attack have continued to circulate.<\/p>\n<p> Local police initially reported the death of a delivery worker, but later identified the victim as Gastelum, who was reportedly 25 years old and posted lifestyle content.<\/p>\n<p> The attack took place in a busy shopping plaza near the Sinaloa prosecutor&#8217;s office in <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/drug-cartel-suspects-killed-shootout-police-sinaloa-mexico\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Culiacan<\/a><\/span>, the state capital.<\/p>\n<p> Soldiers and police were deployed while forensic experts collected evidence and removed the body, according to footage from local TV stations.<\/p>\n<p> The district has been troubled over the past two years by internal struggles within the powerful local cartel.<\/p>\n<p> Around a dozen influencers \u2014 some allegedly linked to criminal gangs \u2014 have been killed in recent years in Sinaloa, local media said.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Mexican social media influencer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/influencer-valeria-marquez-killed-tiktok-livestream-salon-mexico\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Valeria Marquez<\/a> was shot dead at a beauty salon during a live stream on TikTok, where she had tens of thousands of followers. Prosecutors said she appeared to be murdered by a hit man and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/influencer-killed-livestream-valeria-marquez-fear-mexico-prosecutors\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">expressed fear<\/a> before being killed.<\/p>\n<p>In July, authorities announced the arrest in Jalisco of Ramon Angel Alvarez Ayala, whom officials linked to the killing of Marquez as well as the November 2025 murder of Uruapan mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/gunmen-kill-mexican-mayor-who-urged-government-tackle-violent-crime-michoacan\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Carlos Manzo<\/a>, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n<p>Marquez&#8217;s murder shocked Mexico \u2014 where killings and kidnappings are a daily occurrence \u2014 and brought into sharp focus both its femicide epidemic and growing violence against influencers.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2025, a small plane was reported to have dropped pamphlets in Culiacan threatening around 20 artists and YouTubers for alleged dealings with a warring faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel.<\/p>\n<p>Influencers have been targeted in other parts of Latin America. Last year in Venezuela, police <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/livestreamed-murder-tiktok-influencer-venezuela-suspect-arrested\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">arrested<\/a> an alleged accomplice in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/livestreamed-murder-tiktok-jesus-sarmiento-venezuela\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">murder of a TikTok influencer<\/a>\u00a0who was killed during a livestream after denouncing members of the\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/nyc-tren-de-aragua-gang-indictments\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Tren de Aragua<\/a><\/span>\u00a0criminal gang and allegedly corrupt police officers.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<p class=\"content__meta--contributors\">\n<p>                      <span class=\"byline__author__text\">The Associated  Press<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        contributed to this report.\n    <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n        <\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Mexican influencer was shot dead on Tuesday while streaming live on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where cartel and gang violence is rife. Cesar Gastelum, who had more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting with two friends \u2014 all dressed as food delivery workers as part of a challenge. Video&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/05\/9bc04056-4632-4286-acdb-69c8758dda25\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/2792b1ae990e20b6820172e39d094867\/gettyimages-2247915329.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}