Haunting video shows how close mayor's aides came to being killed... and the chilling reason they were spared
The coldblooded gunman was spotted the morning of May 14 standing on a busy sidewalk in the Mexico City neighborhood of Benito Juarez waiting for Brugada's secretary, Ximena Guzmán, to arrive to pick José Muñoz, the mayor's advisor.
Footage obtained by Telediario television crime reporter Carlos Jiménez showed the hired killer with a motorcycle helmet over his head that exposed his face near the steps of an underground passage between Napoleón Street and Calzada de Tlalpan.
The executioner, who was wearing light blue jeans and had a green vest with reflectors, appeared to have been making a call with his cell phone and then sending a text message.
He later leaned against the wall of a building as he continued to wait for Guzmán to pull up to meet Muñoz.
For unknown reasons, Guzmán and Muñoz never arrived at the meeting point, causing the killer to abandoned the task, sparing the duo for the time being.
The same gunman returned Tuesday shortly after 7am local time and approached Guzmán, who was sitting inside her stationed Audi, and waited for Muñoz to walk up to open the front passenger door when he opened fire.
Guzmán was shot eight times and Muñoz was struck four times, according to Mexico City prosecutor Bertha Alcalde.
Authorities have so far seized the abandoned motorcycle, a car and a van that were used to carry out the attack.
The car and van were previously reported stolen.
Pablo Vázquez, who oversees Mexico City's Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, said in a press conference Wednesday that at least four people participated in the brazen attack.
Alcalde described the deadly ambush as 'a direct and highly planned attack, and that those who carried it out had prior experience.'
Both Guzmán and Muñoz had worked for Brugada when she was mayor of the borough of Iztapalapa from October 2018 to September 2023, before joining her staff when she became mayor of Mexico's largest city.
ASÍ CAZABA a XIMENA y a JOSÉ
Es el sicario q los atacó a balazos.
Así los esperó el 14 de mayo.
A la misma hora y en el mismo lugar.
Ximena llegó, pero José no… y el sicario se fue.
Nadie lo notó.
Ahora lo buscan @FiscaliaCDMX @SSC_CDMX y @SSPCMexico
Les cuento #C4EnAlerta pic.twitter.com/Mby4cLd7A4
— Carlos Jiménez (@c4jimenez) May 22, 2025
'I am deeply saddened by the loss of Ximena and Pepe. I shared many years of longing and struggle with them to transform, first Iztapalapa, and now our great city,' Brugada said in a statement.
'Ximena was a wonderful, tireless, and very kind woman. I knew Pepe almost from childhood; he was one of the most intelligent and responsible people I have ever known.
'Our hearts ache. We in the cabinet are deeply dismayed and in mourning. I wholeheartedly embrace their families, friends, and comrades in struggle.
'We will not rest until justice is done.'
Mexican journalist and Telediario host Carlos Jiménez obtained a surveillance video that showed the assassin wanted for murdering Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz, officials in the administration of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, waiting for the pair the morning of May 14 before he noticed they were not going to arrive and abandoned the scene only to return Tuesday and execute them
The murders sent shockwaves through Mexico's capital city, which is widely considered as an oasis of relative security in a country plagued by violence.
Brugada's position as mayor makes her the second most powerful politician in the country behind President Claudia Sheinbaum, who previously served as Head of Government for Mexico City.
During a press briefing Wednesday, Sheinbaum cautioned against speculating over the assassinations.
'No speculation can be made about yesterday's events,' she said. 'We are guided by the ongoing investigations into what happened [Tuesday].'
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