In brief
César Gastélum, a popular Mexican TikTok star, was fatally shot in Culiacán while livestreaming outside a fast‑food outlet. Two men on a motorbike approached him and fired a close‑range shot, leaving the 23‑year‑old dead. Police are combing through bullet casings and CCTV footage, but no arrests have been made. The killing is part of a broader surge in violence in the Sinaloa region, where rival cartel factions are engaged in a deadly feud. This murder follows last year’s killing of fellow influencer Valeria Márquez, highlighting a troubling pattern of livestreaming deaths in Mexico.
César Gastélum, a popular TikTok personality, was gunned down while streaming live from outside a fast‑food outlet in Tres Ríos, a borough of Culiacán, Mexico. Two men on a motorbike approached him and fired a fatal shot at point‑blank range.
Gastélum had amassed more than 500,000 followers with comedy videos, but was also known for posting travel photos and luxury car sightings on Instagram.
The incident is part of a broader surge in violence in the state of Sinaloa, where rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel are engaged in a violent feud that has turned the region into a “gold dust” battlefield.
Police cordoned off the scene and are combing through bullet casings and CCTV footage, but no arrests have yet been made. Whether threats were issued to Gastélum remains unclear.
Last year’s death of fellow influencer Valeria Márquez, who was livestreaming on TikTok when shot, highlights that this is not the first live‑stream murder in Mexico.
Correction (05 August): Article updated to note that the platform was unspecified, not TikTok.
