A suspect was arrested Saturday in connection with the execution-style shooting of Deputy Darren H. Goforth at a Houston-area gas station, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said. Shannon J. Miles is charged with capital murder. The motive is unclear.
Texas authorities pleaded for the public's help Saturday in finding the man who fatally shot a sheriff's deputy in the back in what was described as a "cold-blooded execution" at a Houston-area gas station.
No one was in custody but investigators are "talking to people" about the Friday night's shooting of Deputy Darren H. Goforth, Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said at a news conference.
Earlier Saturday, Sgt. William Kennard of the Texas Department of Public Safety said a man "believed to be the alleged gunman" was in custody and being questioned, though he hadn't been charged. The reason for the discrepancy was unclear.
"I plead today for the public's assistance in our efforts to bring the suspect to the justice he so rightfully deserves," Hickman said.
The sheriff said surveillance video shows people drove up to the Chevron station while the shooting was happening, and he asked them to come forward.
"This is the kind of thing that drives you right down to your soul," Hickman said. "It strikes at the heart of who we are as peace officers. ...This was just a cold-blooded execution."
"Deputy Goforth was refueling his vehicle and returning to his car from inside the convenience store when, unprovoked, a man walked up behind him and literally shot him to death," he said.
Goforth was shot multiple times from behind and then fell to the ground, where the suspect shot the deputy multiple times again, said Deputy Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, died at the scene in what appeared to be "an unprovoked, execution-style killing," Hickman said.
"I have been in law enforcement (for) 45 years," the sheriff said. "I don't recall another incident this cold-blooded and cowardly."
