Ex-governor of violent Mexican state shot dead in restaurant bathroom
- Aristoteles Sandoval was shot in the back by an unidentified assailant while his guards were outside the restaurant in Puerto Vallarta
- One of the ex-Jalisco governor’s bodyguards was seriously injured in a gunfight as his security detail began moving Sandoval to hospital
Jalisco state officials said Sandoval was shot in the back by an unidentified assailant while his security detail were outside the restaurant. A shoot-out erupted as his bodyguards began moving Sandoval to hospital.
Sandoval’s 2013-18 term as governor was overshadowed by the brutal rise of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an outfit with local roots which went from relative obscurity to become one of the most powerful drug gangs in the country.
Jalisco state attorney general Gerardo Octavio Solis said the 46-year-old Sandoval had been with three other people at the restaurant in central Puerto Vallarta, and was gunned down at around 1.40am after getting up to go the bathroom.
One of Sandoval’s bodyguards was seriously injured in the gunfight, Solis told Mexican radio.
The attorney general said the restaurant had “manipulated” the crime scene, cleaning up finger prints and taking security cameras in an apparent attempt “to evade justice”.