A Houston murder suspect, Ernest Christopher Nathan, who was freed on bond a day after his 2022 arrest and went on to make the Texas 10 Most Wanted list shot a U.S. Marshals task force officer in Pine Hill on Tuesday morning and was killed when officers returned fire, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Wednesday.

The wounded officer is expected to make a full recovery, according to ALEA.

Officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force were serving an arrest warrant for murder in the 100 block of Ruby Drive in Pine Hill at about 6 a.m. Tuesday, ALEA said in a release.

“Upon arrival, an Officer assigned to the GCRTF was struck by gunfire,” the release said. “Task Force Officers returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect, identified as 47-year-old Ernest Christopher Nathan. Nathan was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

“The Officer was transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.”

ALEA did not release the officer’s name or agency.

Nathan was wanted out of Harris County, Texas, for a Sept. 25, 2022, shooting outside a food truck at 9598 Main Street in Houston, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which listed him on its 10 Most Wanted fugitives page. Houston police said Nathan and a 32-year-old man got into an argument at the food truck at about 2:20 a.m. and Nathan shot him multiple times before fleeing. The victim died four days later at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Houston police arrested Nathan on Oct. 4, 2022, on charges of murder and evading arrest in a motor vehicle after a vehicle pursuit. He was released on bond the following day, according to DPS.

A warrant for his arrest for failure to appear was issued Feb. 29, 2024. DPS put Nathan on the Texas 10 Most Wanted list with a $5,000 reward, then named him its “Featured Fugitive” in October 2024 and raised the reward to $6,000. The agency warned he “should be considered ARMED and DANGEROUS.”

DPS listed Nathan’s ties as Harris County, Georgia, Ohio and Louisiana. Alabama was not among them.

His record includes Georgia convictions for aggravated assault and drug possession in 2006 and for battery and bail jumping in 2016, according to DPS. The agency also listed aggravated robbery, battery of a pregnant person and possession of a firearm by a felon in his criminal history.

ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation opened the officer-involved shooting investigation at the request of the Marshals Service. “Nothing further is available as the investigation remains ongoing,” ALEA said. “Once complete, the findings will be turned over to the Marengo County District Attorney’s Office.”

The Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force is headquartered in Birmingham and marked 20 years in operation in July. It was organized in 2006 with the backing of Alabama and Mississippi’s congressional delegations and has apprehended more than 70,800 fugitives across the two states, according to the Marshals Service.