A mayor in Mexico’s central state of San Luis Potosí, affiliated with the ruling Morena party, was fatally shot on Sunday along with three others, local authorities confirmed.

Jesús Eduardo Franco, mayor of the Tancanhuitz municipality, and the three other victims were found dead inside a vehicle, the state prosecutor’s office reported.

“We deeply regret the loss of our colleague Eduardo Franco, municipal president of Tancanhuitz,” Morena party president Rita Rodríguez wrote on X. “We call on the authorities to fully investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” she added.

Mexico has seen a surge in violence targeting local officials, often linked to organized crime. Last month, local media reported that Alejandro Arcos, a mayor in Guerrero state, was decapitated just days after taking office, with his head placed on a pickup truck.

Since 2006, when the Mexican government deployed the military to combat drug trafficking, over 450,000 people have been killed, and thousands remain missing, according to official data.