Murphy Woodhouse/KJZZ

Hermosillio, Sonora.

One reporter is dead and another is gravely wounded after a weekend shooting in Hermosillo, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

On Saturday afternoon, gunmen fired dozens of high-caliber rounds into a vehicle carrying two well-known local reporters.

Longtime radio host Reynaldo Lopez died at the scene, near Hermosillo’s Galerias Mall. Former Televisa Sonora sports reporter Carlos Cota was wounded, and remains hospitalized.

“He’s in critical condition,” said Gustavo Bustamante, investigations deputy with the state attorney general’s office. “He was shot a number of times, about 17 bullet wounds.”

Investigators have not yet turned up evidence that the attack was related to either victim’s reporting, though that remains an active line of investigation, Bustamante said. Officials are also looking into the possibility of family ties to crime.

A release from the state attorney’s office Saturday evening downplayed the possibility of a link to their work, and suggested a possible connection to the “illegal activities of people close to one of the victims.”

“You can’t do that within five hours of the incident,” said Reyna Haydee Ramirez, one of the founders of the Sonora Reporters Network.

She said it was inappropriate for the state attorney’s office to discount the possibility of a reporting link so quickly. It was pressure from local and national organizations that kept the line of investigation open, she added.