The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed alarm at the death of Salvadoran Channel 33 television cameraman Alfredo Hurtado, who was gunned down on a bus Tuesday evening in suburban San Salvador on his way to work.

Authorities said two unknown young men boarded the bus, approached Hurtado and opened fire, leaving a dozen bullet wounds in his head and body.

The motive for the attack remains unclear, but news reports said authorities had ruled out robbery as the shooters did not take Hurtado’s money or his watch. An anonymous investigator reportedly told daily La Prensa Grafica that Hurtado’s work as a journalist could have prompted the murder.

The paper said Hurtado, along with other journalists, sometimes accompanied members of the police to cover night-time raids. The journalist’s family told the paper that he had recently received death threats by gang members operating in the area where he lived.

IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “The fact that such hooligans can, on a bus presumably full of witnesses, gun down a journalist is shocking. And it speaks to a clear climate of impunity. We hope that the authorities will, with the help of witnesses, track down and fully prosecute the perpetrators. We also extend our heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Hurtado’s family and co-workers.”