TV cameraman shot dead in Cancun

A cameraman from a TV station in the Caribbean beach destination of Cancun, Mexico, has been shot to death, according to local authorities.

The Quintana Roo state prosecutor's office said Javier Rodriguez Valladares of the Canal 10 station was shot to death along with another man on Wednesday evening.

Authorities were investigating, but initially said it didn't appear to be work related because he was off duty. Journalists have often been targeted while not working.

The Quintana Roo Human Rights Commission said in a statement that Valladares was the third journalist killed in the state this year.

In July, Ruben Pat Cahuich, the director of the online news site in Playa del Carmen, Playa News Aqui y Ahora, was killed. In June, police reporter Jose Guadalupe Chan Dzib from the same outlet was killed.

Paris-based Reporters without Borders condemned Rodriguez's murder.

"Quintana Roo authorities must undertake an exhaustive investigation of this case and identify as soon as possible those responsible for this cowardly killing," said Emmanuel Colombie, director of the group's Latin America office.

Rodriguez is at least the ninth journalist killed in Mexico this year. More than 30 have been killed during the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto who leaves office in three months.

In the first six months of 2018, the coastal state of Quintana Roo saw homicides rise 132 percent, to the equivalent of about 35 killings per 100,000 inhabitants.

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