The deputies were wrestling with a suspect when they were shot from behind, according to the Houston Police Department.
One Texas deputy was killed and two others were injured in an early-morning shooting outside a Houston bar, law enforcement officials said at a news conference on Saturday.
Just after 2 a.m., three deputies with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office working in a police-related job at the 45 Norte Sports Bar, went outside to address a disturbance, according to Jim Jones, executive assistant chief of the Houston Police Department.
The disturbance “may have been a robbery that they were intervening” in, he said. At one point, the deputies tried detaining one man and were shot from behind, he said.
“We believe they were ambushed,” Mr. Jones told reporters.
One person is currently in custody, but Mr. Jones said: “We’re not sure if that is a witness or a suspect. There is still a lot of investigation to be done.”
That person was “close to the scene,” Mr. Jones said. One of the injured deputies was shot in the back, and the other was shot in the foot, Mark Herman, the elected constable for Precinct 4, said at the news conference.
“What happened tonight was evil,” Mr. Herman said. “And now the good is going to sweep in, and I hope for swift justice.”