Burning Atlanta

The gunman who fatally shot a Houston police officer in the back before being gunned down by another officer during an undercover sting late Tuesday is believed to have been an illegal immigrant from Mexico, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Robert Rutt, agent in charge of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office of criminal investigations in Houston, confirmed that Houston police had asked for assistance in determining the immigration status of the gunman shot to death in a drug store parking lot after officer Henry Canales, 42, was fatally wounded.

Preliminary autopsy results show Canales was shot in the back, prosecutors said today.

“Based purely on name and date of birth checks we ran, we find no records of him in our databases, and him being born in Mexico it appears he was here illegally,” Rutt said. “However, until we run his fingerprints through our system we cannot make a final determination.”

Rutt said a fingerprint check on three companions of the gunman — arrested shortly after Canales was slain — showed they are in the country illegally.

The Harris County District Attorney’s office identified the dead gunman as Roberto Pedroza-Carrillo, 37.

The district attorney’s office identified the two adults as Andres Nava-Maldonado, 41, and Xiomara Mendez-Rosales, 36. Both have been charged with capital murder and remain in the Harris County jail.

A magistrate judge denied bond to Nava-Maldonado and immigration officials placed a hold on him as well. His first district court appearance was set for Friday morning.