Shooting at a Houston bar leaves 1 sheriff dead and 2 injured: “We think they were ambushed”
Police line.
Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
A police officer was killed and two others were injured in a shooting early Saturday morning while doing additional work at a bar in Houston, Texas, according to authorities. One of the wounded officers was shot in the back and the other was shot in the foot, according to ABC 13.
On Saturday afternoon, police identified the officer who died as Kareem Atkins of 30 years. They said he had recently returned from a leave for maternity. He is survived by a wife and a 2-month-old baby.
The Sheriff Darrell Garrett, of 28 years, received a shot in the back and had surgery. He’s in the ICU. And the other agent, Juqaim Barthen, of 26 years, was also injured, police said, without giving more details about his condition.
The incident took place around 2: 15 am Atkins and Garrett had left to address what a witness described as a possible robbery in the parking lot. While trying to arrest a suspect, another suspect “invisible to the officers” shot them with an AR assault rifle – 15, according to the police.
” We believe they were ambushed, shot in the back, by a… a suspect with a rifle ”, said Jame s Jones, executive deputy director of the Houston Police Department.
Barthen rushed to help his fellow officers after hearing the gunshots in the parking lot and was shot immediately.
It is unclear if the Marshals returned fire.
Early Saturday, police said a person of interest was in custody. Later, they tweeted that he was not the suspect in the shooting. Police said a suspect is believed to be a Hispanic male of about 20 years.
” Officers Atkins, Garrett and Barthen are true law enforcement heroes who were cowardly ambushed while serving and protecting their community, ”said Sheriff Mark Herman in a press release Saturday.
