U.S. Marine Corps veteran shot dead by cartel-hired gunmen in Mexico: "He was a protector"

Gunmen apparently working for a drug cartel killed an American in Mexico, and one of the alleged killers was a deserter from Honduras' presidential guard unit, authorities in northern Mexico said.

Arizona resident Nicholas Quets was shot to death on Oct. 18 near a gas station between the towns of Altar and Caborca, in the border state of Sonora. Local media reported that Quets was traveling to the beach resort of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, at the time of the attack. His vehicle may have passed a cartel roadway checkpoint just before the killing, local media reported.

Quets' family told CBS affiliate KOLD-TV he was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.