Thread: Arrest made in attempted assassination of US consulate in Mexico

Arrest made in attempted assassination of US consulate in Guadalajara

Daily Mail

Suspect who 'opened fire on US consulate official' in Mexico is detained

• Mexican officials say they arrested a gunman who tried to kill a US consulate
• The gunman followed him into a garage in Guadalajara and opened fire
• Unidentified consulate was shot and wounded in the ambush, but is stable
• Video caught the attacker firing a round into the car as the official was leaving

By Anna Hopkins and Kaileen Gaul For Dailymail.com and Associated Press
PUBLISHED: 13:17 EST, 8 January 2017 | UPDATED: 13:59 EST, 8 January 2017

38View comments

Prosecutors in Mexico say they have caught a gunman who opened fire on an official of the U.S. consulate in the western city of Guadalajara.

The Attorney General's Office of the western state of Jalisco said Sunday via Twitter that the suspect had been turned over to federal prosecutors.

The government official targeted, named as Christopher Ashcraft, was shot in his car Friday after the gunman followed him as he left a parking garage.



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Mexican officials stated they have a man in custody in the assassination attempt of a US consulate in Guadalajara

He was in stable condition Saturday after the attack.

The FBI had offered a $20,000 reward for information on the attacker, and surveillance cameras photos of him were widely circulated.

Attacks on diplomats are federal crimes in Mexico.

The attacker doesn't appear to try to approach the official while he is walking, but instead waits for him to exit the parking garage in his vehicle and fires a round into the car's windshield.

US consular employees and other US agents have been attacked in Mexico in the past; the attackers have usually argued the attacks were cases of mistaken identity.

In 2014, a Mexican gang leader was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 2010 slayings in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, of a US consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another employee.

Prosecutors said Arturo Gallegos Castrellon was in charge of a team of assassins with the Barrio Azteca, a gang allied with the Juarez drug cartel, and had ordered the three slayings.



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The gunman waited outside of a parking garage for the vehicle with the US official to exit

The murders of US consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband, Arthur Redfels, and Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another consulate employee, as they left a children's birthday party were a mistake, former gang members testified during the trial.

Redfels was driving a white SUV that was very similar to a vehicle that Gallegos Castrellon had marked as a target for his team of assassins because they thought it belonged to members of the rival Sinaloa cartel.

In 2012, uniformed police pumped 152 bullets into a US Embassy vehicle carrying two CIA officers and a Mexican Navy captain.

The police officers, who wounded the Americans and face attempted murder charges, initially said the people they attacked were in uniform and marked cars, and that they had responded to fire from the SUV.



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Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton (right) was a US consulate employee who was murdered with her husband Arthur Redfels (left) in 2014

But details of the attorney general's investigation said those attacked were in street clothes, riding in unmarked vehicles (including two of their personal cars) and under order at all times from their commanding officers.

A Mexican drug cartel lieutenant pleaded guilty in 2013 to murder and attempted murder of an officer or employee of the United States in the Feb. 15, 2011, shootings of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The attackers acknowledged they were members of a Los Zetas Cartel hit squad and directly participated in the attack, which resulted in the death of ICE agent Jaime Zapata and the wounding of his colleague Victor Avila, both based in Texas.



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Mexican Arturo Gallegos Castrellon was sentenced to life in prison for the 2010 murders in the border city of Ciudad Juarez

According to court documents, a commander in Los Zetas Cartel tried to hijack the agents' armored government vehicle as it was driving on Highway 57 in San Luis Potosi.
After hit squads forced the vehicle off the road and surrounded it, the Zetas commander ordered the US agents to get out.

The agents refused and tried to identify themselves in Spanish as diplomats from the American embassy, but the hit squad members fired into the vehicle, striking both of them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4VJLbgKGP

Suspect in U.S. Consulate Shooting Is American, Mexican Officials Say

• By DEAN SCHABNER

Jan 8, 2017, 6:57 PM ET

.S. Consulate General Guadal

The man suspected of shooting a U.S. consulate officer outside the consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico, has been captured and is from the United States, Mexican officials said.

The man was captured by the special forces of the state of Jalisco, and handed over to federal prosecutors, according to a tweet from the state of Jalisco.

The Mexican attorney general's office and Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement this evening that "an individual from the United States, allegedly involved in this incident was located and detained. The same individual will be expelled and repatriated to the United States of America where his legal status will be determined."

The officer, identified by Mexican prosecutors as Christopher Ashcraft, was shot in his car on Friday as he was leaving the consulate. He was listed in stable condition.

Surveillance video of the attack shows the shooter following the official in a parking garage. A second video shows the attacker waiting until the victim arrives at the exit to the garage, then fires a round through the car's windshield and immediately runs away.

A Mexican official has called the shooting a "direct attack," but authorities have said they do not know the motive. The State Department said it is working closely with Mexico on the case.
Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Mexico for the quick work making an arrest in the shooting.

"On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I want to thank the Government of Mexico for their swift and decisive arrest of a suspect in the heinous attack against our Foreign Service Officer colleague in Guadalajara, Mexico," he said. "My thoughts and prayers remain with this officer and his family during this difficult time. I wish him a speedy recovery."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=44634589

Indian-born American citizen, 31, is arrested for trying to shoot dead a U.S. consulate official in Mexico over 'problems with his visa'

• Mexican authorities arrest U.S. man for allegedly trying to kill consulate official
• Suspect has been named as Zafar Zia - a 31-year-old U.S. citizen from India
• Gunman was caught on CCTV cameras following victim in Guadalajara on Friday
• Victim was identified by local media as consulate official Christopher Ashcraft

By Associated Press and Emily Crane For Dailymail.com
PUBLISHED: 18:56 EST, 8 January 2017 | UPDATED: 22:53 EST, 8 January 2017

15View comments

Mexican authorities have arrested an American citizen believed to be behind the shooting of an official at the U.S. consulate in the western city of Guadalajara.

The alleged gunman was detained on Sunday after he was caught on security cameras shooting the consulate employee at close range in his car in Guadalajara on Friday.

Zafar Zia, a 31-year-old Indian-born American citizen, has been named as the suspect, according to sources at the Jalisco state prosecutor's office.

Scroll down for video


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+7Mexican authorities have arrested an American citizen over the shooting of an official at the U.S. consulate in the western city of Guadalajara on Friday

The federal Attorney General's Office has not confirmed the suspect's identity.

While investigators are still looking at a motive, the Daily Beast reports the shooting may have been related to a visa dispute.

The suspect will now be deported to the United States to determine his legal situation, according to the federal Attorney General's Office.

The office expressed its 'deep dismay at this cowardly attack' and said the victim remained hospitalized in stable condition.
The U.S. Embassy has not publicly identified the official who was shot.



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The alleged gunman, believed to be Zafar Zia, was detained on Sunday after he was caught on security cameras shooting the consulate employee at close range in his car



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Zafar Zia, a 31-year-old naturalized American from India, has been named as the suspect, according to sources at the Jalisco state prosecutor's office



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Surveillance video of the attack shows the gunman following the official before waiting for the victim to exit a parking garage in his car

Local media identified him as Christopher Ashcraft, whose profile on social networking sites listed him as a consular officer in Guadalajara since 2016.

The FBI had offered a $20,000 reward for information on the attacker, and surveillance cameras photos of him had been widely circulated.

Jalisco state is dominated by the hyper-violent Jalisco New Generation cartel. There was no immediate evidence of any cartel link to the attack.

Surveillance video of the attack shows the gunman following the official, who was dressed in shorts, in a parking garage.

The attacker did not appear to try to approach the official while he was walking, but instead waited for him to exit the parking garage in his vehicle and fired a round into the car's windshield.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement thanking Mexico for the quick arrest on Sunday.



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U.S. consular employees have been attacked in Mexico in the past, including murdered consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton (right) and her husband Arthur Redfels (left)



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Mexican Arturo Gallegos Castrellon was sentenced to life in prison for the 2010 murders of Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton and her husband in the border city of Ciudad Juarez

'On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I want to thank the Government of Mexico for their swift and decisive arrest of a suspect in the heinous attack against our Foreign Service Officer colleague,' Kerry said.
'My thoughts and prayers remain with this officer and his family during this difficult time. I wish him a speedy recovery.'

U.S. consular employees and other U.S. agents have been attacked in Mexico in the past. The attackers have usually argued the attacks were cases of mistaken identity.

In 2014, a Mexican gang leader was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 2010 slayings in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, of US consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband Arthur Redfels and the husband of another employee Alberto Salcido Ceniceros.

Prosecutors said Arturo Gallegos Castrellon was in charge of a team of assassins with the Barrio Azteca - a gang allied with the Juarez drug cartel - and had ordered the three slayings.

Former gang members testified at trial that the murders were a mistake.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4VK8y0700

Revealed: Would-be assassin, 31, who shot a U.S. consulate official in Mexico is a 'medical student who grew up in an affluent California suburb'

• Mexican authorities arrest U.S. man for allegedly trying to kill consulate official
• Suspect has been named as Zia Zafar - a 31-year-old U.S. citizen from India
• Gunman was caught on CCTV cameras following victim in Guadalajara on Friday
• Victim was identified by local media as consulate official Christopher Ashcraft
• Zafar is said to no longer be in Mexico - it's unclear if he was deported or handed over to the US in another manner
• He reportedly was a medical student in Mexico and grew up in Chino Hills

By Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 22:04 EST, 9 January 2017 | UPDATED: 00:13 EST, 10 January 2017

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz4VOETr0Pe

Suspect in attack on US diplomat in Mexico brought to US

By The Associated Press January 10, 2017 5:25 pm

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A California man who authorities say shot and wounded a U.S. consular officer in Mexico appeared to don a wig and stalk his target before opening fire, according to court papers.

Authorities brought Zia Zafar, 31, of Chino Hills, California, to the U.S. on Monday night to face a federal charge of attempted murder of a diplomat. Zafar made his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria.

A magistrate ordered Zafar held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday and appointed the federal public defender to represent him. The public defender, Ken Troccoli, declined comment after Tuesday’s brief hearing.

Surveillance video captured parts of Friday’s shooting of consular officer Christopher Ashcraft, including video showing a shooter taking aim and firing a shot.

Ashcraft told authorities he noticed a man wearing blue scrubs and what appeared to be a wig who was watching and waiting for Ashcraft as he left a gym, according to an FBI affidavit filed Tuesday.

As Ashcraft got into his car and was exiting a shopping center parking garage, he was shot once in the chest, according to the affidavit.


The affidavit says Mexican police recovered a pistol, a pair of sunglasses and a wig similar to the one seen in the surveillance video from Zafar’s residence in Guadalajara.

The affidavit also states that Mexican officials obtained surveillance video of a person matching the description of the shooter paying for a purchase at a nearby Starbucks ahead of the shooting. The person paid with a credit card in Zafar’s name, the affidavit says.

Ashcraft was still recovering from the shooting Tuesday in a Mexican medical facility, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit did not state any motive for the shooting, and prosecutors made no mention of one at Tuesday’s hearing. Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on a motive.

The FBI, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and Mexican authorities are all investigating the shooting with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division.

Zafar entered Mexico on a student visa and holds a U.S. passport as well as a California driver’s license, according to court records.

Zafar faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The charges are filed in Virginia because Zafar was brought into the country in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Dulles International Airport is located.

http://wtop.com/alexandria/2017/01/s...brought-to-us/