Two security experts were killed and four other people were wounded when gunmen opened fire at a taco restaurant in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara on Friday.
Initial reports stated that the two men who were killed collaborated with the United States Embassy in Mexico, but the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara said that the victims were not “currently” employees of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Mexico.
The deceased were identified as César Gustavo Guzmán González, a former policeman and president of the western Mexico chapter of the ASIS International organization for security professionals, and Carlos Amador Chavela, a former high-ranking security official in the state of Hidalgo.
Both men worked as police trainers and had reportedly taught a course at the Police University of Jalisco (Unipol) prior to their murders.
The armed attack occurred at a casual taquería in San Pedro Tlaquepaque, a municipality that borders Guadalajara to the south. The eatery is located on Santa Rosalía Avenue in the neighborhood of Residencial la Soledad, according to the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
The gunmen, who reportedly arrived at the taquería in a vehicle, opened fire at 9:49 p.m. Friday, the FGE said in a statement on Saturday.
The agency said that its homicides unit was investigating the crime, in which two men and two women were wounded in addition to the fatalities. No arrests were reported.
One of the wounded was identified as Pablo Cajigal del Ángel, a former law enforcement official in Chihuahua, a security expert and a police trainer. He and the three other wounded people were transferred to hospital. Cajigal was reported in serious condition.
The FGE said that police cordoned off the crime scene and collected evidence to be processed at the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences. Authorities haven’t cited any possible motives for the attack. Witnesses said that the victims were directly targeted, according to MVS Noticias.
Guzmán, Amador and Cajigal appeared in a photo last week with Jalisco Security Minister Juan Pablo Hernández.
The photo and others were posted to Facebook by Chappela Investigaciones, a consultancy agency owned by Amador. Another photo showed police in a classroom, presumably at Unipol. On the whiteboard, César Guzmán, Pablo Cajigal and Carlos Amador were listed as “instructores.”
“A pleasure to run into the Mtro. [teacher] Cesar Guzmán (FBI) and the Mtro. Pablo Cajigal, among the best exponents of security in Mexico and the United States,” Amador wrote on Facebook.
US Consulate releases statement on security experts’ deaths
A spokeswoman for the United States Consulate in Guadalajara said in a statement that the Consulate was aware of the armed attack in Tlaquepaque and that it is “deeply” concerned by “any act of violence.”
“… We express our condolences to the victims and their families,” the spokeswoman said.
El consulado de Estados Unidos en #Guadalajara, confirmó que hubo el viernes un ataque armado en Tlaquepaque.
Esto después de las versiones periodísticas que difundieron de que dos instructores que colaboraran con la representación fueron asesinados el viernes en una taquería… pic.twitter.com/J4sb11HrgQ
— Irving (@IrvingPineda) May 18, 2025
She noted that “the victims were not currently employees of the United States diplomatic mission in Mexico.”
The spokeswoman didn’t say whether the deceased men had collaborated with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico in the past.
“Due to the ongoing investigation we cannot provide more details at this time. We refer your queries to the appropriate Mexican authorities,” she said.
In brief remarks to reporters on Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said:
“The information I have now is that they weren’t from the [U.S.] Embassy. The Embassy itself released a statement.”
The newspaper Reforma reported on Saturday that Guzmán, Amador — an expert in the prevention of financial crimes — and Cajigal all collaborated with the United States Embassy in Mexico. They reportedly provided security training to embassy personnel at an unspecified time in the past.
Reforma also said that Guzmán was a former agent with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and with Interpol.
Other media outlets reported that Guzmán and Amador worked with the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, an agency of the U.S. Department of State. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the two men had worked for or with that bureau in the past.
In a post to social media, ASIS International expressed its regret over the death of Guzmán.
“We send our most sincere condolences to his family, loved ones, colleagues and the entire security community in Mexico for this irreparable loss,” said the ASIS chapter formerly led by Guzmán.
With reports from MVS Noticias, Milenio, El Economista, Informador, El Universal and Reforma
