Mexico City, March 22 (RHC)-- Mexican journalist Leobardo Vazquez Atzin, who ran news website Enlace Gutierrez Zamora, was shot dead Wednesday in the eastern state of Veracruz.

Vazquez, 42, was killed in the town of Gutierrez Zamora, in northern Veracruz, according to Ana Laura Perez, president of the State Commission for Attention and Protection of Journalists.

The Mexican newspaper SinEmbargo reported that Vasquez had been threatened before his murder -- having already requested help and protection.

Vazquez is the fourth journalist murdered this year in Mexico.  In January, Jose Gerardo Martinez, was shot in a suburb of Mexico City, and Carlos Dominguez was stabbed to death 21 times in Tamaulipas state.  Another journalist, Pamika Montegro, was shot dead at a beach-side resort in Acapulco in February.

Mexico was the most dangerous place to be a journalist in 2017, ahead of Iraq and Syria, with 14 deaths.

At least 22 journalists have been murdered in the state of Veracruz in the last seven years, according to Mexican newspaper, El Universal.