The Texas sheriff’s deputy who was killed at a gas station was shot 15 times by a gunman who unloaded his entire clip, a prosecutor said Monday as the suspect appeared in court for the first time.
A judge found probable cause to hold the suspect, Shannon Miles, for capital murder in the killing of Deputy Darren Goforth in Houston. Miles, 30, wore a yellow jump suit and shackles. He did not enter a plea.
Goforth had just finished filling up his cruiser on Friday night when he was shot in the back of the head. The gunman then stood over him and kept firing, said Devon Anderson, the Harris County district attorney.
“He unloaded the entire weapon into Deputy Goforth,” she said — a 14-bullet clip, plus one that was already in the chamber.
Investigators have said they are not sure what motivated the gunman. Sheriff Ron Hickman said over the weekend that “our assumption is he was a target because he wore a uniform.”
Ballistics tests matched a gun at Miles’ home — a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson — to the shell casings at the gas station, the prosecutor said.
Goforth, 47, was a 10-year veteran of the force with a wife and two kids. More than 1,000 people turned out on Sunday night for a walk in support of law enforcement, and donations of cash for the family have topped $150,000 at the gas station and online.
