Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Texas Sheriff's Deputy
An arrest has been made in the fatal shooting of Texas sheriff’s deputy Darren Goforth.
According to CBS News, Shannon J. Miles, 30, was taken into custody early Saturday. He faces capital murder charges for allegedly shooting Goforth execution-style while he was in uniform pumping gas in to his squad car Friday night. His motive is unclear.
Sheriff Ron Hickman reported that Miles has a criminal record including charges of “resisting arrest, trespass, evading detention and disorderly conduct with a firearm.” Goforth's death, he mentioned, appears to be unprovoked and the assumption is that he was targeted because of his uniform.
"This is the kind of thing that drives you right down to your soul," Hickman said. "It strikes at the heart of who we are as peace officers. This was just a cold-blooded execution."
Hickman and Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson at least partly blames the nationwide debate over the relationship between the police officers and the public, which the sheriff calls "dangerous national rhetoric," for the killing.
"When the rhetoric ramps up to the point where calculated, cold-blooded assassination of police officers happen, this rhetoric has gotten out of control," Hickman said. "We've heard 'Black Lives Matter,' 'All Lives Matter.' Well, cops' lives matter too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier, and just say 'Lives Matter,' and take that to the bank?"
"There are a few bad apples in every profession," Anderson said. "That does not mean there should be open warfare declared on law enforcement."
Indeed, the sheriff's department posted "#BlueLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter. All #LivesMatter" on its Twitter page Saturday.
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(Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office)
