DEL RIO, Texas -- Several law enforcement agencies from both sides of the border continued Thursday night to investigate the death of an official killed outside his Texas home, authorities said.

Mario Espinoza Lobato, 58, a city councilman from Ciudad Acuna, just across the U.S.-Mexico border, was gunned down in the garage of his home in Del Rio on Wednesday afternoon.

Espinoza's wife found him lying next to his pickup truck when she came home, Val Verde County Sheriff A. D'Wayne Jernigan told the Del Rio News-Herald. He was pronounced dead early Thursday.

"The worst was my mom had my kids in the car when they drove in and found him dead," Edith Trevino, the victim's daughter, said. "Adults can handle a lot, (but) kids can't."

Trevino said she believes Lobato was killed because he was so outspoken against crime and injustices in Acuna.

"Every Christmas he would take us to the poor areas of Acuna and give out gifts," Trevino said.

In 2005, Espinoza said a Mexican gang tried to kidnap him in Ciudad Acuna because he had been outspoken against the gang.

Trevino and her family said they fear they could be the next targets.

The Val Verde Sheriff's office is keeping the family under constant surveillance.