An elite Mexican police officer from its so-called “Gringo Hunters” unit has been shot dead by a fugitive they were trying to arrest.
The dedicated team of elite officers follows and detains US criminals and suspects who are hiding in Mexico.
It had been trying to pin down a man in the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana, authorities said, when the man opened fire.
The head of the regional unit in Baja California state, 33-year-old Abigail Esparza Reyes, was hit in the shoot out.
Reyes, who had led the regional team for eight years and carried out more than 400 operations on US fugitives in Mexico, died from the injury.
According to local media reports, the target of the Gringo Hunters was Cesar Hernandez, a convicted murderer who escaped from a California courthouse in December.
Upon arriving for a court appearance, Hernandez managed to jump out of the van and run away, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed at the time.
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He was serving an 80-year life sentence but could have become eligible for parole.
Following the shoot out in Mexico on Wednesday, Hernandez again managed to getaway, this time in disguise as a worker, local media reported.
For decades, suspects on the run in the US have crossed the border into Mexico.
In 2002 the Latin American country set up in cooperation with US law enforcement a dedicated squad to track down fugitives who cross the border.
The highly trained team has gained prominence in recent years and will be the subject of a new crime drama TV series expected on Netflix later this year.
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Baja California state governor Marina del Pilar paid tribute to the killed police officer on social media.
“Abigail’s life will be honoured, and her death will not go unpunished,” she said.
