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Police Seek Motive in Houston Deputy Ambush

Police Seek Motive in Houston Deputy Ambush
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By The Associated Press
Aug. 29, 2015 | HOUSTON, TX
By The Associated Press Aug. 29, 2015 | 03:15 PM | HOUSTON, TX
UPDATE:  The man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a uniformed suburban Houston sheriff's deputy had a lengthy criminal record going back a decade, but records show he never spent more than short stints in jail.

Shannon J. Miles, whose criminal record includes convictions for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm, was to be arraigned Monday in the shooting of Darren Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Miles' arrest Saturday came less than 24 hours after authorities said he ambushed Goforth at a suburban Houston Chevron station.

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said the attack was "clearly unprovoked," and there is no evidence that Goforth knew Miles. Investigators have no information from Miles that would shed light on his motive, Hickman said.

"Our assumption is that he (Goforth) was a target because he wore a uniform," the sheriff said.

Miles' criminal record begins in 2005, when he was convicted of criminal mischief, giving false information to police and resisting arrest, according to records. In 2006, he was convicted of disorderly conduct with a firearm and sentenced to a maximum of 15 days in jail. He was convicted of evading arrest in 2007, and his most recent conviction came in 2009 for again resisting arrest.

Records show that the 30-year-old Houston resident was sentenced to several short stints in jail, anywhere from 10 to 6 days.

Court and jail records did not list an attorney for Miles and attempts to reach his family members on Sunday were unsuccessful.

Goforth, 47, was pumping gas at a Chevron station Friday night in Cypress, a middle- to upper-middle-class suburban area of Harris County located northwest of Houston, when the gunman approached him from behind and fired multiple shots, continuing to fire after the deputy had fallen to the ground.

 

ORIGINAL STORY:

Deputy Darren Goforth, 47, was pumping gas about 8:30 p.m. Friday when a man approached him from behind and fired multiple shots. Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said that surveillance video shows there were people at the gas station, and asked that they reach out with any information that could lead to the man who ambushed Goforth.

Hickman and District Attorney Devon Anderson both said the ambush was unsettling, especially given the recent climate of tension between civilians and law enforcement. "We've heard black lives matter, all lives matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too," Hickman said.

Anderson said that there are bad individuals in every field, but that "there should not be open warfare on law enforcement officers."

Earlier Saturday, Harris County Sheriff's office spokesman Deputy Thomas Gilliland said officials were questioning a person of interest and had a search warrant for a two-story brick home. Hickman said authorities were looking at a pickup truck at the house, which is about a quarter-mile from the gas station, due to the description of the suspect driving a red or maroon truck with an extended cab.

Goforth was a 10-year veteran of the force, had a wife and two children, Hickman said. As for a motive, Hickman said that until anything is known with "certainty ... it's all speculation."

An impromptu memorial sprouted at the Chevron gas station pump that Goforth used Friday night, with a pile of balloons, flowers, candles and notes, including one that said, "Gone but never forgotten R.I.P. Deputy Goforth." The gas station in Copperfield, a middle-class to upper middle-class area of Harris County that is unincorporated, was open, but that pump was closed.

Goforth had traveled to the Chevron station after responding to a routine car accident, Gilliland said. "He was pumping gas into his vehicle and the male suspect came up behind him and shot the deputy multiple times," Gilliland told the Houston Chronicle. "The deputy fell to ground. The suspect came over and shot the deputy again multiple times as he lay on the ground."

Detectives were checking security camera video for possible clues.

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