Bakayoko, owner and manager of the daily newspaper Le Libéral (linked to the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains party), was shot at point-blank range near his car by unidentified gunmen, who fled in a vehicle. Bakayoko died of his wounds in hospital that evening.
Although police claimed the killing was the result of an attempted car theft, many pointed instead to the increasing and sometimes violent harassment of both journalists and opposition party members in the country.