Posted on January 9, 2017

US Consulate Official Shot in Guadalajara

Mexico News Daily, January 7, 2017

An official with the United States consulate in Guadalajara is in stable condition after he was shot outside the Plaza Sania shopping center yesterday.

A source in the city police who asked not to be identified said Christopher Nolan Ashcraft, 31, was shot as he was driving out of a parking garage, reported The Guardian this morning.

Ashcraft was carrying U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration credentials, the source said, and driving a white Honda Fit.

Video footage posted on YouTube shows a man waiting outside the parking lot’s exit for a few minutes before pulling out a gun and firing at a car as it approached the ticket machine. He fled on foot immediately after.

The police source said it appeared the shooter was a professional killer. “That’s not an easy shot,” he said. “He was probably aiming for the head but he missed as [the victim] leaned over to put his ticket in the machine.”

The shooting took place at 6:20pm.

The FBI has offered a US $20,000 reward for information regarding the identity of the shooter. Information can be provided to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City at 555-080-2000.

The federal Attorney General’s office said this morning it was working with U.S. officials to find those responsible, and that state and federal authorities had been assigned to protect the victim.

The newspaper Informador reported that the victim was being treated for a gunshot wound in the upper chest.