A manhunt is underway for the man who shot and wounded a Harris County deputy sheriff during a traffic stop Wednesday evening.
The shooting happened in the 13500 block of Homestead, according to the Houston Chronicle. The patrol deputy, who suffered two bullet wounds to the torso, was transported by helicopter to Memorial-Hermann Texas Medical Center, where he is listed in critical but stable condition.
The deputy has been with the department for just 15 months and is 29 years old.
“At this point, we’re just praying that he makes a full recovery,” said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Dispatchers issued an assist-an-officer call around 7:30 p.m. on August 16. The wounded deputy was able to provide a description of the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Terran Green.
Green was driving a royal blue 2016 Ford Escape with the license plate SVJ 6590. He is described as a black man, approximately 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt and black shorts, according to a Blue Alert issued late Wednesday evening.
“We’re going to be conducting a very massive manhunt,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve instructed everyone that it’s all hands on deck. We’ll not stop until we find the person or persons responsible for injuring our deputy.”
Early Thursday morning, the Texas Department of Public Safety sent out an alert stating that a second man, 37-year-old James Green, was also a suspect in the shooting. He has since been apprehended, NBC 5 DFW reported.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, there have been 157 homicides this year, up 5% from the same period last year, according to police data updated on August 15.
The Dallas Police Department is severely understaffed. An analysis completed in 2015 determined that a city the size of Dallas needs roughly 4,000 police officers, but DPD currently only employs around 3,100.
Neighboring Fort Worth has successfully reduced crime by instituting a dedicated downtown police force that works alongside private security.
