Mexican authorities are on the hunt for a shooter who was disguised as a female nurse when he shot and wounded a US consular official in the city of Guadalajara.
The US consulate in Guadalajara on Saturday posted video footage on Facebook showing the shooter, dressed in blue and wearing a wig, waiting outside a shopping center’s garage at 6:20pm on Friday. He then raises his gun and fires at the car before fleeing.
The shooting left a bullet impact on the car window while the US consular official is seen opening his door.
Moments before the shooting video from different cameras showed the official, dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, paying his parking ticket at an automated machine. The shooter is seen following him.
“According to the four videos, it was a direct attack,” Jalisco State Attorney General Eduard Almaguer Ramirez said.
The US official, who is in stable condition, interviews visa applicants at the consulate, Almaguer said.
A US government official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the official is a vice consul, adding that no motive for the shooting has been established.
The western city of Guadalajara has been hit by violence perpetrated by the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel in recent years.
The US FBI offered a US$20,000 reward for information about the shooter.
The FBI is helping with the investigation, Almaguer said.
The Mexican attorney general’s office said it was in contact with the US embassy and consulate in efforts to locate the shooter.
“The safety and security of our employees overseas is among our highest priorities,” the US embassy said in a statement. “We are working closely with Mexican law enforcement in this matter.”
The embassy issued a security message later on Saturday urging US citizens in Guadalajara to “restrict their movements outside their homes and places of work to those truly essential.”
“They should also take care not to fall into predictable patterns for those movements that are essential. They should vary the times and routes of their movements,” the embassy said.
ATTACKS
US officials have faced attacks in Mexico in the past.
In 2010, a consular official, her husband and the spouse of another consular official were killed in two simultaneous attacks in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez.
An alleged leader of the Barrio Azteca gang was extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the murder.
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