Ochoa, 27, an engineer for Grupo Multimedios Laguna, was killed by gunmen who burst into the media group's transmission facilities on February 9. The group stole and destroyed equipment, and shot Ochoa as he was calling the police, said Juan Carlos Zuñiga, a TV host with Grupo Multimedios.
Heriberto Gallegos, manager of the nearby Radiorama Laguna, said the men also stormed his station's transmission facilities and damaged its equipment. He said the attack was intended to generate panic among the public in Torreón, a large city in north-central Mexico and a battleground for two competing crime gangs. "Both of them want to show their power. Both of them want to show the government cannot control them and the people must do what they say," Gallegos said.
Zuñiga said Grupo Multimedios Laguna had not covered organized crime out of fear of reprisal from the cartels.