Casey Harper
A Texas deputy constable has been hospitalized after he was ambushed and shot in the back four times late Wednesday.
Two law enforcement officers pulled over for a traffic stop in Houston just before midnight Wednesday when an unknown gunman fired six shots at them, 9News reports. Four bullets hit Harris County Deputy Constable Alden Clopton in the back before the female reserve deputy constable Clopton was assisting fired back in the general direction of the shooter.
“She heard multiple gun shots, and saw that her partner had been struck,” Kese Smith with HPD told ABC7. “She got out of her patrol vehicle and fearing for her partner’s safety and her own saw a suspect across the street, she returned fire one time unknown if the suspect is struck, the suspect then fled.”
2 bullets hit deputy constable’s abdomen, third lodged in heart. Surgery will last at least 3 more hours #khou11 pic.twitter.com/uEysrmhIW7
— Drew Karedes (@DrewKaredesKHOU) April 14, 2016
“This is a tragic event for Precinct 7” Lt. Holland Jones on the shooting of his colleague, Dep Alden Clopton #abc13 pic.twitter.com/L8QTEr56RS
— Courtney Fischer (@CourtneyABC13) April 14, 2016
The female reserve deputy constable was unharmed. One bullet struck one of the law enforcement vehicles. Authorities are still investigating the incident and searching for the shooter. They are optimistic Clopton will survive largely because he was wearing a protective vest. He is an 11-year veteran and has a wife and five children.
“It was virtually an ambush, is what it was,” Harris County Constable May Walker told The Houston Chronicle.
Send tips to casey@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Follow Casey on Twitter and like him on Facebook.
