Authorities in Venezuela have arrested a man following the shooting of two US embassy employees at a Caracas nightclub last month, local prosecutors said Thursday.
The man, identified as Carlos Mejias Blanco, was detained for his alleged role in the attack on US diplomats Paul Marwin and Robert Rosas on May 28, the justice ministry said in a statement.
Venezuelan authorities previously had declined to recognize the two injured men as US officials, and had not revealed where they were attacked.
US officials had also released few details about the attack, confirming only that two embassy members had been injured in an “incident” which occurred at “some sort of a social spot”, which Venezuelan media reports said was a strip club.
Local media have also described Marwin and Rosas as military attaches at the US embassy.
Mejias Blanco has been charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm, the statement said.
Authorities also had ordered the arrest of a second man, Windy Fabiani Mejias, who was present during the incident but is not believed to have been directly involved in the attack.
According to prosecutors, the two men had engaged in a discussion with “military attaches in a nightclub located in the Chacao municipality before producing a gun and shooting at the Americans repeatedly, leaving them wounded.”
Venezuela is the most violent country in South America with 54 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Some 3,400 murders were recorded in the first quarter of 2013 alone, according to government figures.
Venezuelan man arrested over US embassy staff shooting
