Spanish businessman killed in Mexico City, woman shot in central mall

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A 75-year-old Spanish businessman has died after being shot in the head in Mexico City, while a separate shooting in an upscale shopping mall on Monday led to the death of a young woman, authorities said. The shootings, which occurred in areas not generally marred by gun violence, were the latest incidents to weigh on the security record of the Mexican capital. Mexico City has tended to be less affected by the lawlessness plaguing sizeable stretches of the country. A spokeswoman for Mexico City Attorney General Edmundo Garrido said the Spaniard, Jose Gonzalez, died in hospital after being shot around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday in the northwestern borough of Miguel Hidalgo. In a statement, the office of the attorney general said the man was shot outside one of his businesses, in a part of the borough known as Escandon, a normally peaceful area. The motive for the shooting was under investigation, according to the spokeswoman. It was also unclear how many people took part in the attack on Gonzalez, she said. Spanish newspapers, including El Pais, said Gonzalez had interests in hotels and gas stations. El Pais said Gonzalez was a friend of some prominent Mexican entrepreneurs and that he customarily spent part of the year in his native Galicia in Spain, and part of it Mexico. Separately, a man embroiled in a child custody dispute shot the mother of his daughter, then turned the gun on himself in the high-rise shopping center and residential complex known as Reforma 222 in central Mexico City, local police said. The man went into a footwear shop where the woman was working on Monday afternoon and shot her in the abdomen before shooting himself in the head, police said in a statement. The woman, 28, later died of her injuries, the office of the Mexico City attorney general said on Twitter. The complex is a landmark on Paseo de la Reforma, one of the city's principal thoroughfares, and includes foreign diplomatic officials among its residents. Killings in Mexico hit a record high in 2017, and the violence has sapped confidence in the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto. His ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party faces an uphill battle to secure re-election in July. (Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by David Gregorio and Peter Cooney)