In a fatal shootout, two top aides of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were shot dead when gunmen ambushed while plying on a motorbike during daytime in the city centre on Tuesday.
According to Mexico City’s administration statement, the two aides who were shot dead were the mayor’s private secretary, Ximena Guzman, and an adviser to Brugada, Jose Munoz.
An official at the federal prosecutor’s office said Guzman, who was driving to her office, had stopped in downtown Mexico City which is a busy avenue to pick up her colleague.
Me siento profundamente triste por la pérdida de Ximena y de Pepe. Con ellos compartí muchos años de anhelos y luchas por transformar, primero Iztapalapa, y ahora nuestra gran ciudad. Ximena era una mujer maravillosa, incansable, muy buena. A Pepe lo traté casi desde niño, una de… pic.twitter.com/OYJlk2XaU9
— Clara Brugada Molina (@ClaraBrugadaM) May 20, 2025
Munoz was approached by two gunmen on a bike who opened fire on him in the street and killed him. The two attackers then fired at least four shots at Guzman, who was waiting for her colleague in downtown Mexico City, inside the vehicle which killed her.
A staff member offers condolences to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, facing camera, at a press conference where she spoke about the assassination of her personal secretary and one of her advisors. (AP Photo)
Security experts have suggested that the killing was carried out by an organized crime group, however, the authorities have yet not given a reason for the motive behind the killing of two aides of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada.
“I feel very sad for the loss of Ximena and Pepe (Jose), with whom for many years we shared dreams and struggles,” Mayor Brugada said. The killing has sent shockwaves across Mexico City which was considered as an oasis of relative security in a country plagued by violence.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who herself is a former mayor of Mexico City, extended her support and said “It is a deplorable incident and we are going to give all the support that the mayor may need.”
Mayor Brugada thanked President Sheinbaum and other cabinet members for extending support and cooperation needed after the attack. She said there would be no impunity for those who carried out the attack. Officials confirmed that the mayor wasn’t in the car when the incident took place.
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