3 off-duty Harris County deputies working security shot outside Houston nightclub, woman killed
Houston TX January 4, 2021
A woman was killed and three sheriff’s deputies were wounded when a gunman opened fire early Sunday during a fight in the parking lot of a Houston nightclub, authorities said.
The shooting erupted at 2:20 a.m. outside Set Nightclub in the city’s Midtown neighborhood and police said they arrested a man suspected of being the alleged gunman when he turned up at a hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound, Assistant Chief Troy Fenner of the Houston Police Department said at a news conference.
The suspect’s name was not immediately released. Fenner said the suspect is a man in his mid- to late-20s.
Fenner said it was not immediately clear how the suspected gunman was shot.
The three Harris County Sheriff’s deputies were moonlighting at the nightclub as security and were in full uniform when they were shot, according to the assistant chief.
The woman who was shot was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. Her name is being withheld by police pending notification of her relatives.
Fenner said the shooting occurred shortly after the nightclub closed.
“There was a fight that broke out. The deputies were attempting to break up the fight. We have one suspect that began to fire upon the deputies,” Fenner said.
He said the motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said all three deputies are expected to survive.
“Two of them I’ve talked with directly, and they’re in fairly good spirits. Their families are scared but relieved,” Gonzalez said.
He said the third deputy was undergoing surgery Sunday morning and is expected to make a full recovery.
“It was a tragic night, but it could have been a lot worse,” Gonzalez said.
He described all three deputies as “fairly seasoned” members of the department, saying one has been a member of the sheriff’s office for about five years, and two are 11-year veterans of the agency.
Gonzalez noted that the shooting came a day after Harris County Sheriff Sgt. Bruce Watson, a 20-year veteran of the department, was killed in a motorcycle crash in Houston.
Watson had just finished an off-duty job leading a funeral procession and was on his way home when he was involved in a crash with an SUV around 1:15 p.m., officials said. He was taken to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where he was pronounced dead.
“It was a very scary moment at the heels of what we went through just last night,” Gonzalez said of the shooting and the death of Watson.
