The mayor of a town in the central Mexican state of Puebla was shot to death in his car, authorities said Tuesday, the third mayor to be killed in the country in less than two weeks, according to dpa. Jose Santa Maria Zavila, mayor of Huehuetlan El Grande, was shot late Monday while driving on a local road. Local residents found his body and alerted authorities. The motive for the slaying was as yet unknown, and investigators said there were no known threats against Santa Maria Zavila. Gunmen killed mayors on July 23 and 24 in the southern state of Chiapas and the central state of Guerrero. Last week, the wife of a mayor in the southern state of Oaxaca was shot dead, as well. Since 2006, 40 Mexican mayors have been killed, along with 32 former mayors and seven awaiting swearing in, according to Mexico's National Association of Mayors.
