Freelance journalist Cecilio Pineda Brito was shot dead on the evening of March 2, 2017 in Ciudad Altamirano, in Mexico’s Guerrero state. Pineda was in a hammock at a car wash waiting for his vehicle when two gunmen on a motorcycle approached him and shot him repeatedly. Prior to his death, he had been investigating a criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and its relationship with vigilante forces in the state. Pineda reportedly received threats before the killing. In 2015 he was targeted, but unhurt, in a shooting outside his home.