Sheriff: multi-county chase, shooting left suspect airlifted; deputy uninjured

Harrison County Sheriff (name not given in the record) told the commissioners court on July 3 that deputies were involved in a multi-county pursuit and shooting after a Gladewater Police Department shooting. The sheriff said the suspect, a Harrison County resident with multiple local addresses, fled through several counties before deputies located him near First Community Baptist Church.

"He immediately just came out after him ... he got out the window and started shooting at the deputy," the sheriff said, adding that the suspect fired about 13 rounds at a deputy and that the overall exchange amounted to roughly 40 rounds. By the time the incident ended, the sheriff said, the suspect was stopped and airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. No deputy was injured.

The sheriff gave a monthly activity summary for June, saying his office handled 2,566 calls for service, took 199 criminal reports, made 69 arrests, and issued 117 traffic citations. He said the jail population is about 245 and the county is housing 22 contract inmates (two for another county and 20 for the U.S. Marshals Service).

The sheriff also raised a recent state correctional policy change that could affect county jails: a bill permitting the state prison system to pay counties for housing inmates, with no timeline in the transcript for state removal of those inmates. "It seems like a good intention but its not necessarily well worked out," he said, and said he would review the legislation further.

The sheriffsoffice reported that deputies served 78 legal documents in the month and that the department conducted three mental-health transports and 27 other transports totaling 6,341 miles. The court did not record additional details about the ongoing investigation into the pursuit and shooting.

The court did not vote on law-enforcement policy in response to the report; the sheriffs briefing served as an informational update to the commissioners.