PINE HILL, Ala. — A U.S. Marshals task force officer was shot and a Texas murder fugitive was killed Tuesday morning when officers tried to serve an arrest warrant at a home in the Pine Hill area of Marengo County, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
ALEA identified the man killed as Ernest Christopher Nathan, 47, who had been wanted for more than two years in a 2022 Houston shooting death and appeared on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s list of the state’s 10 Most Wanted fugitives. The wounded officer, a member of the Marshals Service’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, was taken to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, ALEA said.
Special agents with ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation are investigating the shooting at the request of the U.S. Marshals Service. Their findings will go to the Marengo County District Attorney’s Office once the inquiry is complete.
What Happened on Ruby Drive
According to ALEA, officers assigned to the task force went to the 100 block of Ruby Drive at about 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, to execute an arrest warrant for murder.
“Upon arrival, an Officer assigned to the GCRTF was struck by gunfire,” the agency said in a written release. “Task Force Officers returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect, identified as 47-year-old Ernest Christopher Nathan. Nathan was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
ALEA Sgt. Reginal King said the task force members were at the location specifically to arrest Nathan. The agency has not released the officer’s name, the law enforcement agency the officer normally works for, or details about the officer’s injuries.
“Nothing further is available as the investigation remains ongoing,” ALEA said.
The incorporated town of Pine Hill sits in western Wilcox County, while ALEA placed the Ruby Drive address within neighboring Marengo County, which is why the case will be reviewed by prosecutors there.
A Houston Murder Case
Nathan was wanted in Harris County, Texas, in connection with a shooting outside a food truck at 9598 Main Street in Houston on Sept. 25, 2022, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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 that Nathan shot the man 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 following a vehicle pursuit. He was released on bond the next day, according to DPS.
From Bond to the 10 Most Wanted List
A warrant for Nathan’s arrest on a charge of failure to appear was issued Feb. 29, 2024. Texas DPS later placed him on its 10 Most Wanted list with a $5,000 reward. In October 2024, the agency named him its “Featured Fugitive” and raised the reward to $6,000, warning the public that he “should be considered ARMED and DANGEROUS.”
DPS listed Nathan’s known ties as Harris County, Georgia, Ohio and Louisiana. Alabama was not among them, and authorities have not said how he came to be in Marengo County or how long he had been there.
His criminal history, as listed by DPS, includes Georgia convictions for aggravated assault and drug possession in 2006 and for battery and bail jumping in 2016. The agency also listed aggravated robbery, battery of a pregnant person and possession of a firearm by a felon in his record.
The Houston murder charge against Nathan was never tried, and he was not convicted in that case.
The Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force
The task force involved in Tuesday’s operation is one of the U.S. Marshals Service’s regional fugitive task forces, which pair deputy marshals with officers from federal, state and local agencies to track down people wanted on serious warrants. Local officers assigned to these units are typically deputized as task force officers, allowing them to work cases across county and state lines.
The Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force began operating on July 1, 2006, under authority created by the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000, according to the Marshals Service. It was organized with the backing of Alabama’s and Mississippi’s congressional delegations and is headquartered in Birmingham.
The unit covers the Northern, Middle and Southern districts of Alabama and the Northern and Southern districts of Mississippi, with offices in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Oxford, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Gulfport. More than 75 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies take part.
The task force marked its 20th anniversary in July. In announcing that milestone, the Marshals Service reported that over two decades the unit had recorded:
- 76,096 fugitive arrests
- 107,825 warrants cleared
- 6,378 homicide suspects apprehended
- 3,169 gang members arrested
- 5,042 firearms and other weapons seized
Serving warrants on people accused of violent crimes is among the most dangerous work in law enforcement, and task forces generally make arrests early in the morning, when a suspect is more likely to be home and bystanders are less likely to be on the street. Tuesday’s operation began at about 6 a.m.
How Alabama Reviews Officer Shootings
When a law enforcement officer in Alabama fires a weapon and wounds or kills someone, the employing agency commonly asks ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation to conduct an independent inquiry. The practice is intended to put the fact-finding in the hands of investigators outside the agency whose officers were involved.
SBI agents typically process the scene, collect weapons, shell casings and other physical evidence, interview officers and witnesses, and review any available video. Autopsies in such cases are generally performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Once the investigation is complete, ALEA turns its case file over to the district attorney in the county where the shooting occurred. In this case that is the Marengo County District Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether the officers’ use of force was legally justified and whether any further action is warranted. Some district attorneys also present officer-involved shootings to a grand jury for review.
What Comes Next
The SBI investigation remains open, and ALEA has said it will not release additional details while that work is underway. The agency has not said how many officers fired their weapons, how many shots were exchanged, or whether anyone else was inside the home at the time.
The wounded officer’s recovery is expected to be complete, according to ALEA. Because a criminal prosecution ends with the death of the accused, the 2022 Houston murder charge against Nathan will not go to trial.