Video captures shooting of U.S. consular official in Mexico

[Tudd Fudders]

[quote]A U.S. consular officer in Mexico was shot in his car Friday evening, and the FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the shooting suspect.

Surveillance video released by the Consulate General in Guadalajara showed a man in a purple shirt, dark pants and white shoes waiting near a garage Friday evening as a black vehicle pulled up to the exit gate.

In the video, the man in the purple shirt points a gun at the driver and fires once, then runs away. The car lurches forward, then stops, as several people begin rushing toward the driver.

The consulate also released other videos, both time-stamped about 6:15 p.m. Friday. One showed the man in the purple shirt in greater detail — and wearing dark sunglasses — as he ran behind a truck.

In another, a thinner man in red shorts and a gray tank top is shown at a garage parking payment machine. As he walks away, the man in the purple shirt follows.

The State Department confirmed Saturday that the FBI was offering a reward for information about the shooting but said it could not share additional details because of privacy considerations.

“The safety and security of our employees overseas is among our highest priorities,” the department said in a statement. “We are working closely with Mexican law enforcement ‎in this matter.”

[Why Mexico’s drug cartels love America’s gun laws]

The wounded consular official in Guadalajara is Christopher Ashcraft, who is in his first posting with the State Department, according to a friend who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

Ashcraft was coming out of a gym in Guadalajara in the early evening, about 6 p.m., at the time of the shooting, the friend said.

According to the friend, an assailant reportedly asked for Ashcraft by name at the gym's reception, then followed him to his car. Ashcraft was shot while sitting inside the car, hit on the right side of his chest, the friend said.

Ashcraft is recovering well at a hospital in Guadalajara and plans to return to the United States for a time, the friend said.

“He has no idea what happened,” said the friend, who has been in contact with Ashcraft since the shooting. “But it wasn’t random.”

While there is no indication so far about the motive of the shooting, Guadalajara is the home territory of the Nueva Generacion cartel, one of the most powerful in the country. In recent years, the drug cartel has been responsible for violence, targeting Mexican soldiers and police.

[/quote]

Video in link
[url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/07/video-captures-shooting-of-u-s-consular-official-in-mexico/[/url]

[Mr.Brown]

now he's [I]really[/I] gonna build that wall