Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Gunmen in Mexico shot and killed a crime reporter in the central state of Guanajuato on Sunday.
Alejandro Martínez Noguez died in Celaya after suffering the attack while in his car. He survived a similar attack on his life in 2022, the BBC reported.
At the time of his slaying, he was under police protection by two officers who ineffectively returned fire at the assailants.
Martinez went by the nickname "El Hijo del Llanero Solitito," which is "The Son of the Lone Ranger" in English.
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He died in a hospital from his bullet wounds.
The journalist, who was in his 50s, ran a popular news outlet on Facebook, which has about 344,000 followers.
Hours before the attack, Martínez covered a fatal car accident on a dangerous stretch of highway. He posted a 20-minute video about the incident.
Guanajuato, Mexico, has a population of 6,166,934 in central Mexico. Celaya has a population of 310,413.
In Mexico, more than 150 media workers have been killed since 1994, according to campaign group Reporters Without Borders.
"Mexican authorities must act immediately to find and arrest the killers of Alejandro Martínez Noguez, whose death underscores the dangers journalists face in the city of Celaya and its environs," Committee to Project Journalists Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen, said in a statement. "His shooting while under police protection is a shocking example of the dangers facing journalists trying to keep the Mexican public informed about what is happening in their country."
Earlier this month, Federico Hans, a journalist in Caborca in northern Sonora state, was shot and wounded as he got into his car outside his home.
On June 29, Víctor Culebro was found dead along a highway in the southern state of Chiapas.
