Leader of elite Mexican police unit allegedly killed by convicted murderer who escaped California prison

A convicted murderer who escaped from California corrections custody last year is believed to have killed the leader of an elite Mexican police unit charged with finding and arresting fugitive Americans, officials said.

Authorities said the unit – known as "Gringo Hunters," which dedicates itself to arresting U.S. suspects who are fugitives in Mexico – was trying to arrest a suspect in the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana when the man opened fire, hitting and killing 33-year-old Abigail Esparza Reyes.

Esparza Reyes was the head of the unit at the northern border state of Baja California.