Authorities said a Texas sheriff’s deputy was ambushed and gunned down “execution-style” Friday night while he pumped gas for his car.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. William Kennard told CNN Saturday morning that authorities had taken a man believed to be the gunman into custody.
Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman identified the victim in a news conference as 47-year-old Darren Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the force.
“He was literally gunned down in what appears to be an unprovoked, execution-style killing,” Hickman said, as quoted by CNN. “I have been in law enforcement for 45 years, I have never seen anything this cold-blooded.”
Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Gilliland told reporters earlier in the night that a male suspect approached Goforth from behind as he was pumping gas at a Houston-area gas station and shot him multiple times. The suspect shot the deputy again several times as he lay on the ground and then fled, according to Gilliland.
Authorities weren’t aware of a motive for the shooting, according to Gilliland.