Mexican influencer shot dead during livestream
Mexican influencer César Gastélum was shot dead on Tuesday evening while livestreaming on TikTok in Culiacán, northern Mexico. He was filming with two friends outside a fast food restaurant when two men on a motorbike pulled up and one of them shot him at close range, in an attack that highlights the growing risks faced by social media figures in parts of Mexico affected by cartel violence.
Gastélum, who had more than 500,000 TikTok followers and mainly posted comedy content, was wearing an orange delivery-style coat at the time, which initially led police to mistake him for a food delivery driver. Investigators are examining cartridge casings and CCTV footage, but no arrests have been made and it remains unclear whether he had received prior threats. He is the second TikTok influencer to be killed on livestream in Mexico in the past year, following the death of Valeria Márquez in May 2025, and Culiacán has seen escalating violence since a split within the Sinaloa cartel in September 2024.
- TikTok influencer César Gastélum shot dead live in Culiacán, Mexico
- Gunmen on a motorbike fled; no arrests made yet
- Second livestreamed influencer killing in Mexico within a year
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César Gastélum was a Mexican social media personality who had built a large following on TikTok, mostly through comedy videos, and had become a recognisable figure in Culiacán, a city in the northern state of Sinaloa. He was killed while broadcasting live to his followers, a format that meant the attack was witnessed by viewers in real time rather than emerging only afterwards through reports.
The killing has drawn attention partly because of where it happened. Culiacán is the home base of the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful organised crime groups, and the city has experienced a marked rise in violence since the cartel split into rival factions in late 2024. It is not yet known whether Gastélum's death is connected to this wider conflict, but the setting means any violent crime there is often examined against that backdrop.
This is also the second time in just over a year that a Mexican TikTok influencer has been shot dead while livestreaming, after a similar killing in May 2025. The repetition has raised broader concern about the safety of content creators and public figures in parts of Mexico where organised crime groups hold significant power, and about how livestreaming can turn an act of violence into something an online audience sees unfold directly.