MEXICO CITY (AP) — A journalist in northern Mexico escaped unharmed after a gunman attacked his family’s vehicle in the border state of Sonora in the first reported attempt on a reporter's life in the country in the new year.

Sunday's attack, on the first day of 2023, came after Mexico suffered its worst year of killings of journalists in three decades, with at least 15 slayings.

The media site La Nota Prensa De Sonora said its director, Omar Castro, was attacked on a street in the city of Ciudad Obregon.

Castro was traveling with his daughter and a nephew when bullets were fired at his sports utility vehicle. The SUV had a La Nota Prensa De Sonora sign on it.

The site reported the attacker shouted, “I'm going to kill you!” It also posted photos of the bullet-scarred vehicle.

La Nota Prensa De Sonora reports mainly on local politics, as well as entertainment and other news.

Last year, many of slain journalists were small town reporters running their own outlets on a shoestring. Others were freelancers, including for national publications, in big cities like Tijuana.

On Dec. 15, two gunmen astride a motorcycle shot up prominent radio and television journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva’ s armored vehicle near his Mexico City home. The journalist described the attack and posted photos of his vehicle to social media.