Jaime Zapata entered Hanna High School as a junior in 1994.
About 17 years later, his world geography teacher, Mark Schlatter still remembers a kid with a big smile.
Zapata eventually became an agent for U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and was assigned in Mexico where he was killed in the line of duty on Tuesday.
According to Schlatter, Zapata was one of the popular kids in school, always with a smile on his face and friendly to everyone.
Zapata also loved to be outdoors, and as Schlatter remembers, hunting was his favorite thing to do while not in school.
ICE officials said Zapata joined the agency in 2006 and was assigned to the office of the deputy special agent in charge in Laredo.
Schlatter told Action 4 News that Zapata was always talking about getting involved in public service to help protect his country.
There are a lot of great memories about the former Hanna High School student.
But the one that sticks out the most to Schlatter is how Zapata always told him he was famous because of his last name.
Saying that Zapata county was named after his ancestors.
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