Texas state trooper killed during traffic stop

A Texas state trooper was killed during a traffic stop on Thanksgiving Day.

Credit: Texas Highway Patrol

Credit: Texas Highway Patrol

A Texas state trooper was killed during a traffic stop on Thanksgiving Day.

A Texas state trooper was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Thursday, WFAA reported.

Damon Allen, 41, was a 15-year veteran of the Texas Highway Patrol. He was shot and killed at about 4 p.m. on Interstate 45 just south of Fairfield, WFAA reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said Allen had pulled over the suspect's vehicle for a traffic violation at about 3:45 p.m. After making contact with the driver, the trooper had returned to his patrol car when the suspect fired multiple shots from a rifle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Allen died at the scene, WFAA reported.

Allen was a husband and father of three, the Texas Highway Patrol said.

Authorities later arrested the driver of the vehicle, Dabrett Montreal Black, 32, of Lindale, the Star-Telegram reported.

The Waller County Sheriff's Officer posted on Facebook that one of its deputies had spotted Black driving in that county west of Houston and that shots had been fired afterward.

Just before 9 p.m., Black was found hiding in a field and taken into custody. He did have nonlife-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital, KBTX reported. He was being treated for a K-9 bite, authorities said late Thursday.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that “this trooper died selflessly serving Texas. Please join Angela and me as we pray for the trooper's family and for the entire Department of Public Safety.”

Gov. Greg Abbott reacted from his Twitter account. “Sad on Thanksgiving to lose one of our state troopers in the line of duty,”he wrote. “Prayers for his family. Swift justice for his killer.”