Captured

The suspect in the shooting of a Harlingen police officer was transferred to U.S. custody from Mexican authorities Thursday evening, officials said.

Abraham Mar, 18, of Harlingen, was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection as of 7 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

Earlier in the evening police confirmed he was in the custody of Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Mexico, police spokesman David Osborne said.

Mar faces a charge of attempted capital murder in the Wednesday night shooting of Officer Carlos Diaz, who was shot multiple times during a routine traffic stop.

Diaz's condition was upgraded from critical to fair early Thursday.

Harlingen Assistant Police Chief Luciano Rubio confirmed that Mexican authorities helped capture Mar on Thursday in Mexico and then transferred him to U.S. custody.

The FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Harlingen and Brownsville police departments assisted in retrieving him from Mexico, Rubio said.

Mar was being held at the Brownsville Police Department Thursday, Rubio said. Authorities planned to keep him there overnight and hold his arraignment this morning either in Harlingen or Brownsville.

Police obtained a warrant for Mar on a charge of attempted capital murder after Diaz was shot about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday at F Street and West Buchanan Avenue, authorities said.

Based on information obtained from the police car dashboard camera video, it appeared that Mar was alone during the incident, authorities said. But police have not ruled out the possibility that someone else may have been with him, Osborne said.

Immediately after the shooting, police issued an alert to all law enforcement agencies, Osborne said.

"All law enforcement in the area were aware of the situation and we asked them to keep a lookout," Osborne said.

During a news conference at the police department Thursday, Rubio said Diaz was upgraded from critical to fair condition at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen. Rubio said Diaz was in good spirits after surgery.

Osborne did not say how many gunshot wounds Diaz suffered, but said he was shot multiple times in the right shoulder and forearm. One bullet grazed Diaz's head.

Osborne and Rubio described the shooting as an "ambush."

About nine shots were fired, Osborne said, but information on the weapon used was not released.

Photographs of Diaz's police car appear to show eight bullet holes in the windshield with a ninth going into the edge of the roof just above the windshield. One photograph appears to show nine shell casings on the pavement.

Police believe Mar was traveling in a white Mitsubishi Gallant, authorities said. This is the car that was spotted by Cameron Country sheriff's deputies shortly after the shooting, Osborne said.

Deputies pursued the Mitsubishi toward Mexico, Osborne said. But the fleeing driver drove the vehicle into the Rio Grande near Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, he said.

It is not known if Mar was in the vehicle at the time of the pursuit, Rubio said during the news conference.

Brownsville Herald reporter Laura Tillman contributed to this report.