HOUSTON, Aug. 29 (UPI) — Harris County law enforcement said they have detained a suspect Saturday morning in the execution-style shooting death of a deputy sheriff who was pumping gas.
Darren H. Goforth, 47, was standing by the side of his cruiser about 8:30 p.m. Friday when a man walked up behind him and opened fire. When Goforth fell to ground, the gunman shot him several more times and took off, Sheriff Ron Hickman said at a news conference. There was no apparent motive, officials said.
“He was literally gunned down in what appears to be an unprovoked, execution-style killing,” Hickman said. “I have been in law enforcement for 45 years, I have never seen anything this cold-blooded.”
Saturday morning, police were tipped off that a man who fit the suspect’s description was in a home in nearby Copperfield. The man has not been identified. The suspect’s mother said he is innocent and was home at the time of the shooting.
Investigators said Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was pumping gas after he responded to a routine car accident.
“I can tell you with diligence and justice the suspect will be caught,” said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Thomas Gilliland. “And he will be brought to justice.”
