Mayor of Guerrero's Capital City in Mexico Assassinated, Confirms State Governor

Alejandro Arcos, the newly-appointed mayor of Chilpancingo - the capital of Mexico's heavily-crime-ridden Guerrero state - was slain on Sunday. This sad development was confirmed by the governor of Guerrero state. Arcos had been in office for merely six days before his untimely demise. Chilpancingo is an urban hub with a population of about 280,000 residents, situated in the Southwestern part of Mexico. "The loss of Arcos has caused great sorrow among all citizens of Guerrero and makes us feel outraged," stated Evelyn Salgado, the Guerrero Governor, in a shared statement on social media.

The State Attorney General's office of Guerrero also revealed that an official investigation into the murder of Arcos is underway. Pictures showing a decapitated head on a pick-up truck's hood, suspected to belong to Arcos, started to circulate on WhatsApp prior to the official confirmation. The credibility of these photos, however, could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.

The assassination of Arcos happened just three days subsequent to the murder of the new city government’s secretary, Francisco Tapia. Senator Alejandro Moreno eulogized both men on social media, describing them as "young, honest officials that aspired for their community's advancement." Moreno, serving as the head of Mexico's PRI political party, further requested the federal attorney general's office to take charge of the ongoing investigation concerning the murders of Arcos and Tapia, reflecting upon the state of Guerrero's grim law and order situation.

Guerrero has an alarming track record of violence against politicians and journalists, making it one of the most dangerous states in the country. As a testament to this statement, there were at least six incidences of public office nominees being murdered in the period leading to Mexico's June 2 elections. In the past few days, Arcos' social media posts suggested that he had been busy overseeing disaster relief operations due to the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane John last month. The calamity had caused severe flood damage to the beach resort of Acapulco along with neighboring towns.