Houston, TX – Houston-Area Deputy Shot 15 Times; Suspect Held Without Bond

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    Law enforcement officers attend a news conference regarding the shooting death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, pictured in back, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in Houston. Prosecutors on Saturday charged Shannon J. Miles with capital murder in the Friday killing of Goforth at a suburban Houston gas station. (Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP) Houston, TX – A man charged with killing a suburban Houston officer first shot the 10-year veteran in the back of the head and fired a total of 15 times, authorities said Monday.

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    Shannon J. Miles, who is charged with capital murder, appeared briefly in state District Court in handcuffs and shackles. The 30-year-old Houston resident said very little, other than to answer the judge’s questions. He is being held without bond and has two court-appointed attorneys; neither was at the courthouse.

    Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson would not comment on a motive to reporters.

    Anderson read the probable cause statement in court, saying that police first received a call at 8:20 p.m. Friday. When authorities arrived at the gas station in the Houston suburb of Cypress, they found Deputy Darren Goforth, a 10-year-veteran of the force, face-down. He was already dead, she said.

    Surveillance video from the gas station shows that Goforth, 47, had just come out of a convenience store after he had pumped gas and that Miles got out of his red truck, she said.

    “He runs up behind Deputy Goforth and puts the gun to the back of his head and shoots. Deputy Goforth hits the ground and then he continues to unload his gun, shooting repeatedly into the back of Deputy Goforth,” Anderson said.
    Shannon J. Miles, 30, is walked out of the Harris County Sheriff's Department in Houston on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. Prosecutors on Saturday charged Miles with capital murder in the killing of a uniformed sheriff's deputy who was gunned down from behind while filling his patrol car with gas. (Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP)
    Goforth was shot 15 times and a witness saw the shooting, Anderson said. She added that the shell casings match the .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun found at Miles’ home.

    Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said Saturday that the attack was “clearly unprovoked,” and there is no evidence that Goforth knew Miles. “Our assumption is that he (Goforth) was a target because he wore a uniform,” the sheriff said.

    The killing evoked strong emotions in the area’s law enforcement community, with Hickman linking it to heightened tension over the treatment of African-Americans by police. Goforth was white and Miles is black.

    The nationwide “Black Lives Matter” movement that formed last year after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has sought sweeping reforms of policing. Related protests erupted in Texas recently after a 28-year-old Sandra Bland, a black woman, was found dead in a county jail about 50 miles northwest of Houston three days after she was arrested on traffic violation.

    “We’ve heard Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Well, cops’ lives matter, too,” Hickman said Saturday.

    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 he was sentenced to several short stints in jail, anywhere from 10 to six days.
    Mourners gather at a gas station in Houston on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015 to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial for Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth who was shot and killed while filling his patrol car. On Saturday, prosecutors charged Shannon J. Miles with capital murder in the Friday shooting. (James Nielsen/Houston Chronicle via AP)


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    3 Comments
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    golani
    golani
    8 years ago

    The president is responsible for this murder because of his rhetoric constantly dividing this country with his racist agenda ,and while we are at it black lives matter should be designated as a hate group because they are calling out for the murder of whites and cops

    8 years ago

    The first photo gets to the point of the problem – old white men. Asking a force of mostly old white men to police mostly young colored boys is a recipe for bad communication, misunderstanding, aggravation, hostility, and violence. Just ask yourself: would you rather deal with cops directly or through shomrim?

    Take a close look at the final paragraph of the article, and take careful note of the murderer’s criminal record – all the counts are bogus charges that police routinely use to harass and punish innocent people when they can’t pin any real crime on them. What the last paragraph of the article does, is describe the murderer as someone who had suffered ten years of police abuse. The effects of this kind of abuse can have permanent life-long consequences – in many states, a person with a criminal record can’t vote or get a job.

    So now we have created one more murderer, and have one more dead police officer – and the murdered police officer may have been a fine paragon of virtue who never personally abused anyone; he just proudly wore the same uniform as all the other abusers.

    8 years ago

    Any Democrats in office ready to issue statements about this, or will they keep their silence in deference to the race of the murderer who is black, like the President? Is there any conscience or morality left in the Democratic party?