2008: Mar shoots Harlingen officer

HARLINGEN - A routine traffic stop at the intersection of F Street and Buchanan Avenue turned violent on June 25 when Abraham Mar, then 18, a reputed member of the West Side Aquas gang, fired 10 9 mm rifle shots into the windshield of police officer Carlos Diaz's patrol car.

Six bullets and bullet fragments struck Diaz in the head, shoulder and hand, a doctor later testified.

Mar fled the scene after the shooting and tried to make his way to Mexico before driving his car into the Rio Grande near the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, authorities said.

Mar was arrested in Matamoros a day after the shooting and was turned over to U.S. authorities.

Following the incident was what police referred to as an overwhelming community response.

"When we saw it on the news, I just grabbed my husband and said, ‘Oh my God,'" Becky Olmeda, 58, a Harlingen homemaker, said. "I couldn't believe this was happening in Harlingen. We just prayed for (Diaz) ... Because I didn't think he was going to make it."

Police Capt. Ramon Vela in an earlier interview said he was in awe of the outpouring of concern.

"The response has been enormous; it's been wonderful," he said. "Many churches have called us saying they have the officer in their prayers. That kind of outpouring of concern doesn't happen everywhere. It makes police officers working on the streets proud to be serving."

Diaz was released from Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen on July 5 and recovered from his wounds.

Mar received a 99-year prison sentence in November after being convicted of attempted capital murder. The jury also handed down a two-year state jail felony sentence for a second offense of fleeing police in a motor vehicle and decided Mar should pay $10,000 in fines for each charge.