The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned last week’s murder of a television engineer during a violent attack on a TV station in Mexico.

Rodolfo Ochoa, 27, was shot to death by masked intruders at dawn last Wednesday as he tried to telephone colleagues for help when the intruders burst into the transmission facilities of Grupo Multimedios Laguna in Torreón in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.

Ochoa was struck by eight bullets, and the intruders also destroyed and stole equipment at the facility. The attack followed a similar assault earlier that morning at radio station Radiorama Laguna, where a security guard and another individual were beaten, and equipment was damaged.

The attacks are believed to be the work of one of two organized crime cartels battling for control of the city.

IPI Press & Communications Manager Anthony Mills condemned the attacks and urged Mexican authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.

“Mexican authorities must take immediate steps to find and apprehend the perpetrators of this shocking crime, and demonstrate that attacks seeking notoriety and to spread fear will not be tolerated.”