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A Mexican TikTok influencer with more than 600,000 followers was shot dead Tuesday night while livestreaming outside a fast-food restaurant in Culiacán, where two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have spent the last year and a half killing each other for control.
⚠️ La motocicleta que disparó al influencer CÉSAR GASTÉLUM ya había pasado enfrente de ellos
— La Tía Sandra (@TuTiaSandra) August 5, 2026
"Esos chalos me dan miedo"
Las autoridades federales confirmaron que colaboran con la Fiscalía de Sinaloa para esclarecer el homicidio de César Gastélum en Culiacán, Sinaloa. pic.twitter.com/nS2Lcgzubr
Getting into it: César Gastélum, reported by local outlets to be 24, was filming with two friends in the parking lot of a KFC in the Tres Ríos area around 8 p.m. All three were dressed in the bright orange jackets and backpacks of food delivery drivers as part of a social media challenge. Two men in helmets rode past on a motorcycle, and Gastélum can be heard on the stream saying, “those guys scare me.” The bike circled back, and one of the men drew a handgun and fired at his head at point-blank range. He died at the scene. The shooters fled, and no arrests have been made.
Mexico’s Federal Security Cabinet said it is investigating whether the attack relates to “various posts” on social media, “in some of which he made reference to a faction of a criminal group.” Gastélum posted content calling himself “belico,” a term implying connection to cartel culture. His Instagram featured travel photos, nights out, and poses in front of luxury cars.
One post showed him at the grave of Leobardo Aispuro, an influencer known as “El Gordo Peruci,” who was gunned down in December 2024 in a killing police linked to the same cartel rivalry.
President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the shooting at a press conference, saying, “The actual perpetrators, and if applicable the mastermind, must be arrested, and the reason behind this tragic homicide must be uncovered.”
This all comes just over a year after beauty influencer Valeria Márquez, 23, was shot dead during a TikTok livestream at a Jalisco salon. Authorities arrested CJNG-linked cell leader Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala in that case last month, alleging that his son, who had repeatedly threatened Márquez, asked him to carry out the killing.
