MEXICO CITY — At least four individuals were involved in the deadly ambush that killed two senior aides to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, authorities confirmed Wednesday, as investigators continued to piece together the city’s most brazen political assassination in years.
Police Chief Pablo Vázquez Camacho said that multiple suspects helped orchestrate the Tuesday morning execution-style shooting of Brugada’s personal secretary, Ximena Guzmán, and close adviser, José Muñoz. The victims were gunned down inside Guzmán’s vehicle along a busy boulevard as they traveled through the capital just after 7 a.m.
Authorities believe the attack was highly coordinated and deliberate. The assailant, according to Chief Prosecutor Bertha Alcalde Luján, initially fled the scene on a motorcycle hidden nearby, then switched vehicles twice in an apparent attempt to evade law enforcement as he and accomplices escaped into neighboring Mexico State.
Alcalde revealed that Guzmán was struck eight times, while Muñoz was shot four times—evidence, she said, that the gunman acted with intent and prior knowledge. “This was a direct attack carried out with significant planning and by individuals with prior experience,” she said during a press conference. However, no motive has been confirmed, and investigators have not linked the killings to any known organized crime groups.
“We cannot draw conclusions about links to organized crime, and we are not in a position to attribute the attack to any particular group,” Alcalde emphasized.
Authorities also discovered surveillance footage and evidence indicating that at least one suspect had surveilled the site of the killing in the days leading up to the ambush—suggesting the attackers were familiar with the victims’ routines.
The scene of the assassination bore signs of the brutal execution: four bullet holes pierced the driver’s side windshield, and one of the victims was found lying on the pavement. Neither Guzmán nor Muñoz had security details assigned to them, although both had received basic training in self-protection, officials said.
“They were people deeply connected to the public, and they carried out their duties without fear,” Vázquez Camacho stated.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, a political ally of Brugada and Mexico City’s former mayor, refrained from speculating on organized crime involvement during her daily briefing Wednesday. Sheinbaum, who assumed the presidency in 2024, once held the same mayoral position that has historically served as a stepping stone to national office.
Though Mexico City has long been seen as a relatively safe urban center in a country plagued by drug cartel violence, Tuesday’s assassination shattered that perception. The capital had not seen such a high-profile political attack since the 2020 ambush of then-Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who survived but lost two bodyguards and a civilian in an assault authorities blamed on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
In contrast, Guzmán and Muñoz’s deaths came without warning and with chilling precision. Their deaths prompted an outpouring of grief and shock across the capital, with handwritten tributes, candles, and flowers appearing at the scene. Hundreds of commuters passed the crime site the next day—some unaware of what had occurred, others still shaken.
University student Loretta García Oriz, who saw the bodies still at the scene Tuesday morning, said returning to the location gave her “the same trauma.” Local vendor Oscar Sánchez said the attack made clear that status offered no protection. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an official or just an average person—it’s all the same,” he said.
Investigators recovered clothing items from the getaway vehicles and are analyzing forensic evidence. Authorities continue to search for the remaining suspects and are reviewing footage and communications in hopes of identifying those behind the attack.
