The judge shot dead in his car outside a courthouse in the resort town of Acapulco

A judge was killed Wednesday in the once-prosperous Mexican beach city Acapulcosaid local media and the state prosecutor's office.

Local media identified the slain judge as Edmundo Roman Pinzon, president of the Superior Court of Justice in Guerrero state, saying he was shot at least four times in his car outside the Acapulco courthouse .

The southern state of Guerrero It is one of Mexico's hardest-hit areas for organized crime-related violence, and has seen a series of deadly attacks this year.

In October, the mayor of the state capital Chilpancingo was killed and dispossession just days after taking office. Days later, four mayors asked federal authorities protection.

Weeks later, armed clashes between members of the alleged gang and security forces left 19 people dead in the state. Last month, twelve bodies separated they were found in vehicles in Chilpancingo.

Acapulco, the state's most populous city, was once a playground for the rich and famous, but has lost its charm over the past decade as foreign tourists have been under attack. fear bloodshed that has made it one of the most violent cities in the world.

On Wednesday, the The Guerrero state prosecutor's office said in a statement that he was “investigating the crime of mass murder against Edmundo N” according to the usual practice of not giving full names.

Wednesday's killing comes two days after attackers in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz shooting to death a federal congressman. Representative Benito Aguas Atlahua was a member of the Green Party, which was an ally of the ruling Morena party. Investigators have yet to publicly identify a motive in Monday's killing.

The murder of the judge comes a little over a week after President Claudia Sheinbaum led a meeting of the National Public Security Council in Acapulco, with state governors present.

Spiraling violence, much of it related to the drug trade, has killed more than 450,000 people in Mexico since 2006, when the government launched an offensive against organized crime.

Sheinbaum, who took office in October as Mexico's first female president, has refused to launch a new “war on drugs,” as the controversial program was known.

Instead she has pledged to stick with her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's “hugs not bullets” strategy of using social policy to tackle the causes of crime.

Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in Guerrero.

Violence in Guerrero reached unprecedented levels and earlier this year, Catholic bishops announced that they had helped broker a truce in another part of the state between two warring drug cartels.

In June, at least three politicians in Guerrero were killed. Acacia flowerswhich represents Malinaltepec, was killed just days after the killed Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor from the state of Guerrero elected in the June 2 polls. Earlier this month, local counselor she was shot down as she was leaving her home in Guerrero.

Her murder came days after the mayor of a town in western Mexico and her bodyguard were killed outside the gymjust hours after Sheinbaum won the presidency.