TX Workplace Shooting: Deputy Shot in Throat, Woman Killed—Suspect Commits Suicide
“One of our deputies jumped the vehicle as it was leaving the scene,” DeFoor said. “The suspect jumped out of his car, started shooting at the deputy, the deputy returned fire. The deputy was shot one time in the throat."
A Liberty County (TX) Sheriff's deputy was shot in the throat Wednesday by a gunman who attacked a plumbing business, killed a woman and shot two men, police say. The gunman fled the scene but was found after a manhunt and reportedly killed himself.
Deputy Richard Whitten was taken by helicopter to a Houston hospital about 50 miles south after being shot at an area veterinary clinic. Whitten, a four-year deputy, was shot in the neck, but his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
The suspect, identified as 65-year-old Pavol Vido, was tracked by a Texas prison system bloodhound and was found hiding under a boat, said Jeremy Desel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The gunman took his own life as authorities moved in, Desel told USA Today.
The wounded deputy is reportedly in stable condition.
Vido reportedly drove to a veterinary clinic a few miles away where he encountered Whitten. Liberty County Sheriff's Capt. Ken DeFoor described the shooting at the clinic.
“One of our deputies jumped the vehicle as it was leaving the scene,” DeFoor said in a report carried by KHOU TV in Houston. “The suspect jumped out of his car, started shooting at the deputy, the deputy returned fire. The deputy was shot one time in the throat."
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