Houston nightclub shooting: Woman killed and three off-duty police officers working security wounded

Three off-duty police officers working security at a Houston night club were injured in a shooting that left a woman in her 40s dead in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Officials said the deputies were working an extra job and were in full uniform when they responded to the shooting during a fight in a parking lot outside Set Nightclub shortly after it had closed at around 2.20am.

As they attempted to break up the fight the suspected shooter opened fire into the crowd killing the ‘innocent bystander’, cops say.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the deputies, who have not been identified, went to hospitals for treatment and were expected to survive — including one deputy who was taken in for surgery.

Officials said the deputies were working an extra job and were in full uniform

The officers had tried to stop a fight in a parking lot outside Set Nightclub at 2.20am Sunday. As they attempted to break up the fight the suspected shooter opened fire

One male officer was shot in the foot, another in the hands and legs; a female officer was shot in the abdomen. Two are in their 40s; the third in their 40s and are ‘fairly seasoned deputies’. 

The city’s Executive Assistant Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters that the woman who died was a civilian who was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. 

She has not been named but was described as a Hispanic woman in her 40s by Click2Houston.

One male officer was shot in the foot, another in the hands and legs; a female officer was shot in the abdomen. Two are in their 40s; the third in their 40s and are ‘fairly seasoned deputies’. The city’s Executive Assistant Police Chief Troy Finner told reporters that the woman who died was a civilian who was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The suspected shooter, described as a Hispanic male in his mid to late twenties, sought treatment for a gunshot wound at a hospital in Sugarland, Finner said. He has not been named and was taken into custody.

Sugarland is about 20 miles southwest of Houston.

Finner said: ‘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.’

‘I don’t know what led him to shoot into a crowd with police officers and other citizens,’ Finner added. ‘The investigation is still at the preliminary point.’

Gonzalez said he had spoken with two of the officers who were ‘in fairly good spirits’. All three cops are expected to survive.

The shooting comes less than a day after Harris County Sgt. Bruce Watson was killed in a crash while driving his patrol motorcycle.

Watson, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was on his way home after leading a funeral procession Saturday when he was involved in a collision in Pearland, news outlets reported. He later died at a hospital. Watson’s wife is a Houston police officer.

Sunday morning’s shooting was a ‘very scary moment at the heels of what we went through just last night,’ Gonzalez said
at the news conference.

‘It’s been a tragic night all around,’ the sheriff said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the deputies, who have not been identified, went to hospitals for treatment and were expected to survive