JERSEY VILLAGE, Texas (AP) - A sheriff's deputy has been shot and killed while making a traffic stop Friday near Houston.
The incident happened about 12:45 p.m. in a residential cul-de-sac 18 miles (29 kilometers) northwest of Houston.
The 10-year veteran of his force had stopped a vehicle with two people inside when one of the occupants was able to leave the vehicle, approach the deputy from behind and shoot him at least twice - "basically just shot him in a very ruthless, cold-blooded way," said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The deputy was able to return fire, but Gonzalez didn't say if anyone else was wounded. The deputy was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A suspect was arrested at a nearby strip shopping center, the sheriff said. The identities of the suspect and the deputy haven't been released, but Gonzalez says the deputy is well-known to the community and a close friend.
"There are no words to speak to how heartbroken we are, how devastated," he said.
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