Ximena Guzmán, personal secretary to Mexico City’s mayor, shot dead

A man armed with a gun murdered Ximena Guzmán, the personal secretary to the mayor of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, on Tuesday morning. The shooter also killed José Muñoz, an adviser to the local government who was with Guzmán. The attack occurred shortly after 7:00 a.m. Brugada reported the incident on her X account. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the attack, learning of it during her usual morning press conference.

The assault took place in a central area, in the Moderna neighborhood, at the intersection of Calzada de Tlalpan and Napoleón Street, according to Brugada.

In her information card on X, Brugada mentioned multiple attackers and said they fled on a motorcycle. She added that capital city security forces were already analyzing security camera footage from the area to identify the assailants. Video footage published by several media outlets this morning shows the main attacker, dressed in white and wearing a helmet, shooting at Guzmán.

“There will be no impunity; those responsible will be arrested and will have to face justice,” Brugada said.

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The moment of the attack in Mexico City

President Sheinbaum stated that the federal Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuch, “has issued instructions so that [local authorities] receive support from the National Intelligence Center, the Federal Undersecretariat of Intelligence and Investigation, the Defense and Navy Secretariats — everything needed to support the investigation and get to the bottom of this situation. Investigations are already underway to determine the motive behind the attack and to identify the likely perpetrators.”

Brugada appeared before the media shortly before noon to condemn the attack. “Ximena was a wonderful woman, tireless, kind. I’ve known Pepe [José Muñoz] for almost... He is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met, and extremely responsible,” she said. “I want to embrace their families, friends, loved ones, and comrades in the struggle. In the city cabinet, we are deeply shocked and mourning the loss of two dear colleagues. I guarantee the people of the capital that this government will continue its relentless fight against insecurity.”

The murder of Guzmán and Muñoz is the highest-profile attack on officials in the capital since the assassination attempt on García Harfuch himself five years ago, when he was head of the city police. Criminals linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) ambushed the police chief as he was leaving his home one morning, firing hundreds of shots at him. Harfuch miraculously survived, but two of his bodyguards were killed, as well as a woman who was at the scene of the attack.

According to reporters who arrived at the scene, the attack took place on Tlalpan, one of the main thoroughfares connecting the north and south of the capital, heading toward downtown. Early reports indicate that Muñoz was waiting on the street for Guzmán, who was going to pick him up in her vehicle. When she reached his side, the attacker, who had been waiting at the corner of Napoleón, approached and shot Muñoz. He then fired at Guzmán.

Later reports suggest there were actually multiple attackers. Guzmán and Muñoz were traveling together from the south, and the assailants had been following them. For some reason, the attack took place near the Moderna neighborhood, just past the intersection with Napoleón, one of the main arteries connecting downtown with the eastern part of the city. Both victims died at the scene.

In the security camera footage mentioned earlier, the car is seen stopped on the side of Tlalpan, with its hazard lights on. First, Muñoz, who is outside the car, approaches the passenger door of the vehicle, an Audi Q2, from the rear. By this time, the attacker is already in front of the car. He appears to say something to them and then immediately opens fire, first on Muñoz and then on Guzmán.

Guzmán had been a close collaborator of Brugada for years. A mutual acquaintance described her as “one of the three closest people” to the head of government. “She had been with her since her years in Iztapalapa,” the source said. Brugada, who has been the capital’s head of government for a few months, built her career in the Iztapalapa borough — one of the most populous in the city — where she served as mayor just before taking office as head of government.

On her Facebook page, Guzmán, 42, regularly posted videos and photos of Brugada and President Sheinbaum. She also shared some of her passions, such as cinema, athletics (which she practiced), flowers, and activities related to an urban organic garden where she cultivated blackberries and other berries.

Guzmán studied at the Liceo Mexicano Japonés, completed high school at the prestigious Antonio Caso school of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Coyoacán, and later pursued sociology studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, France.

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