Rodolfo Torre Cantu Assassinated; Drug Cartels Suspected, Say Reports

MEXICO CITY (CBS) A gubernatorial candidate in Mexico's northeastern Tamaulipas State was killed, along with at least four others, by gunmen who ambushed his campaign fleet Monday, according to reports.

Police found two campaign vehicles with their doors ajar and windows smashed by bullets just outside the state capital, Ciudad Victoria, after 10 a.m. Cantu was among the dead, according to investigators quoted in the New York Times.

Because Tamaulipas State has been at the center of vicious hostility between rival drug trafficking organizations, authorities speculate drug cartels are responsible, said The Times. According to The Times, Cantu's death is one of a series of recent assassinations, including one of a mayoral candidate and another of an activist attending a get-out-the-vote event.

Cantu was nearing the end of his campaign and readying for the July 4 elections when the attack occurred, and supporters of Cantu are shocked and expressed those sentiments on his Facebook campaign page. His official Web site currently displays only a single black ribbon in honor of his death.