GUADALAJARA, MEXICO — A California man was charged on Tuesday with the attempted murder of a U.S. diplomat in Guadalajara, Mexico during a shooting last week.
The suspect has been identified as Zia Zafar, 31, of Chino Hills, California. Zafar was recorded on security camera shooting Christopher Ashcraft, U.S. vice consul in Guadalajara, Mexico last Friday.
According to the Washington Post, Ashcraft told FBI agents that on the day of the attack, he was leaving a gym near a shopping mall when he sensed that a person was waiting for him. He then paid for his parking spot at a kiosk and walked toward the garage.
Zafar was recorded on camera following Ashcraft to the garage. Ashcraft reportedly deliberately walked to a populated part of the garage, where he thought he had lost Zafar. However, when Ashcraft later pulled up in his vehicle at the exit ramp, Zafar was waiting for him and opened fire through the car’s windshield. Ashcraft was shot in the chest.
He reportedly is currently in hospital in stable condition.
According to reports, Zafar grew up in Chino Hills, California and entered Mexico on a student visa. He was deported from Mexico to the U.S. and arrested on Monday. He made an appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday, but court papers did not state what his motive was for the shooting.
