A Travis County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy who was shot in his home in Round Rock early Monday has died at a local hospital, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Association president.
Authorities identified the deputy as Sgt. Craig Hutchinson, a 32-year veteran officer who was set to retire in September.
Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton said Hutchinson called in on the radio that people were running out of his backyard around 1:22 a.m. Hamilton said officers arrived to find the deputy shot in the yard about 10 minutes after the call.
The sheriff said the shooting appears to be part of a robbery and that investigators so far do not think the shooting was an ambush or a targeted attack. Two suspects are at large.
Hamilton also noted that Hutchinson was his field training officer.
“He taught me everything I know,” he said. “This guy was a big teddy bear.”
Austin police says their officers and Round Rock police are temporarily shutting down the southbound lanes of Interstate 35 as the body of the deputy is escorted from a hospital in Round Rock to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office on 15th Street in Austin.
Law enforcement officers from multiple Central Texas agencies responded after they received reports of the incident around 1:20 a.m. near Oak Meadow Drive and East Messick Loop.
Dozens of police vehicles filled the residential neighborhood off McNeil Road where the incident took place. Several officers in the area are wearing tactical gear and many have rifles.
McNeil has been completely shut down while authorities investigate.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo asked the public via Twitter to "please keep our Travis County Sheriff's family in your thoughts and prayers. Sad, troubling time we live in. Austin police stands with our friends."
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