Post by Scumhunter on Aug 29, 2015 14:42:32 GMT -5
HARRIS COUNTY – Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth was brutally gunned down while at a northwest Harris County gas station Friday evening, Sheriff Ron Hickman said.
Hickman said in a press conference Saturday that the investigation into the killing of Goforth is ongoing, and a suspect is not in custody. A man was brought in for questioning about the incident earlier Saturday morning, but he was not arrested or charged.
Hickman said there are multiple witnesses in the incident, and he is asking them -- as well as anyone else with information -- to come forward.
"We are reaching out to the community for assistance (in) capturing the violent individual for the senseless death of Deputy Goforth," Hickman said.
Goforth was walking out of a Chevron gas station at the corner of Telge and West Road when a man approached him and shot him multiple times, Hickman said. Goforth had stopped at the gas station to fill up his patrol car, the sheriff’s office said.
Goforth, 47, was a 10-year veteran with the sheriff’s office, working the west district patrol division. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
“It appears to be an unprovoked, execution-style killing of a police officer,” Hickman said. “It strikes us all at the heart of public service. … We will hunt this person down and do our best to bring him to justice.”
Hickman said in his 45 years of law enforcement, he can’t recall another incident “this cold blooded and cowardly.”
According to Hickman, Goforth had finished investigating a traffic accident about 30 minutes before he was killed. Hickman said it doesn’t appear there were any connection between the traffic investigation and the shooting.
Sheriff’s officials are looking into surveillance footage from the gas station and are asking for anyone with information into Goforth’s murder to contact the sheriff’s office.The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Harris County Constable’s Office, DPS, Texas Rangers, the FBI and U.S. Marshals are assisting in the investigation and the search for the suspect and any motive.
Goforth was working alone Friday evening, which is common procedure, spokesman Thomas Gilliland said.
“This is an act of cowardice and brutality, the likes of which I’ve never seen,” said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson. “We will use all our resources to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”
The 100 Club, a Houston-based nonprofit organization supporting dependents of law enforcement officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, announced Saturday it will provide a $20,000 check to Goforth's wife, 12-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son to help with immediate financial needs.
Meanwhile, as news of the deputy’s murder spread through the neighborhood the fallen deputy patrolled, a small shrine grew around the gas pump where he died. Visitors left flowers, balloons and handmade tributes in Goforth’s memory.
“I’ve talked to him several times about his family,” said Brian McCullar, who lives in one of the subdivisions near the crime scene. “I know that they just recently got back from a vacation. I know he couldn’t wait to go on vacation with his family.”
Mothers and fathers brought their children to lay flowers at the base of the gas pump. Grown men and women wept and prayed.
Several of the people who came to the pay their respects were especially disturbed by the sudden and mysterious circumstances surrounding the deputy’s death.
“I mean, he was doing his job, but he was just standing there,” said Barbara Adams, who lives nearby. “The cold-bloodedness of it really hit me.”
A couple of past and present law enforcement officers echoed that concern, pointing out that the murder had no apparent motive.
“You go on duty and you expect the unexpected,” said McCullar, a former deputy constable. “But when you’re going off duty and you’re filling up your patrol car? I don’t think that you’re expecting that.”
A woman who declined to offer her name but volunteered that she’s a police officer visiting Houston from Virginia spent several minutes making and posting hand-drawn cards. She said she saw patrol cars in the area and heard about the deputy’s death from her colleagues back in the Washington DC area.
“It’s just heartbreaking, you know?” she said. “It’s a hard job and we’re here to help serve and protect. And through no fault of his own, he was pumping gas and somebody decided to end his life because of the hate in their heart.”
The seemingly random killing had some residents of the area questioning whether their neighborhood is becoming too dangerous for them.
“If a deputy sheriff can be executed and murdered in the same area that I live in, I mean what’s the hope for older people and defenseless people,” said Hugh Benziger, who lives near the crime scene. “That could’ve been some old lady, an elderly person buying gas.”
www.khou.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/28/harris-county-sheriffs-deputy-shot-nw-harris-county/71347894/
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