The International Press Institute (IPI) today called for Honduran authorities to fully investigate the death of TV journalist Carlos Fernández, who was fatally shot on Thursday in front of his home on the Caribbean island of Roátan.

Carlos Gutiérrez, a colleague of Fernández who was with him on the night of the attack, told Univision that the journalist was walking from a car to his apartment from a car shortly after 10 p.m. when an unidentified assailant shot him three times; once in the head and twice in the chest.

Police said that information from Fernández’ mobile phone could be key to determining the motive for the killing, and they noted that he previously received death threats. However, they also said they could not yet definitively link the crime to his journalistic work.

Fernández was a TV presenter for Caribe TV Canal 27, where he led a newscast called “The Naked Truth” and contributed to the program “Forum with the Medic”. He additionally worked as a real estate entrepreneur.

IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis urged called on Honduran authorities to conduct a full, swift and transparent investigation into Fernández’s death.

“Honduras has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists and media workers this decade, with dozens killed and an unsettling lack of accountability,” he said. “The failure to bring the perpetrators to justice and end a climate of impunity leaves media workers at the mercy of those who would attack them and often facing the stark choice of self-censorship or death.”

Reporting in Honduras carries significant risk. According to IPI’s Death Watch, at least 26 other journalists have died in connection with their work in the country since a June 2009 coup ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya.

A January 2014 report by Pen International documented how the vast majority of cases in which journalists were murdered in Honduras remain unsolved.