An American citizen arrested in the shooting of a U.S. consular official in Mexico last week has been deported, the U.S. justice department said Tuesday.
Zia Zafar, 31, of Chino Hills, California, made his initial appearance Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, and was charged with one count of attempted murder of an internationally protected person.
A surveillance video posted to Facebook by the U.S. consulate shows Zafar waiting outside a parking garage before opening fire on a car Friday evening. He wounded 13-year foreign service officer Christopher Ashcraft, who was reported to be in stable condition in a Guadalajara, Mexico, hospital.
According to the complaint filed against him, Zafar disguised himself and followed Ashcraft through a parking garage and to his car. As Ashcraft drove toward the exit, Zafar shot him once in the chest and fled.
He was arrested by Mexican authorities on Sunday and then deported.
