Mexican reporter shot dead

A Mexican reporter was shot dead on Tuesday while attending a Christmas celebration at his son's elementary school, authorities said.

One or more armed assailants fired on Gumaro Perez Aguilando in front of children and parents gathered at the school in Acayucan, a town in the southern part of the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz.

Perez covered the crime beat for local daily Voz del Sur (Voice of the South), and "recently signed a letter demanding justice" for the killing of another reporter in Veracruz, according to Mexican daily El Financiero.

Perez, 34, also worked for the City Hall in Acayucan, one of several towns affected by drug trafficking violence in the state.

The governor of Veracruz, Miguel Angel Yunes, said via Twitter a special team of state prosecutors were assigned to investigate the case, and that police would offer his family protection.