Houston officer dead, another wounded while serving warrant

A Houston police officer was killed and another was wounded Monday morning during a shooting that also killed a 31-year-old man whom the officers were attempting to arrest on drug charges, authorities said.

The veteran officers were each shot multiple times while attempting to serve an arrest warrant at an apartment complex on the city's northeast side, Mayor Sylvester Turner said during a news conference.

"This has been a tragic day today,” Turner said. “It is another reminder that police work is inherently dangerous.”

Officer William Jeffrey, who joined the Houston Police Department in 1990, was pronounced dead at a hospital following the shooting, authorities said. Sgt. Charles Vance, who joined the department in 1997, was in stable condition, according to police Chief Troy Finner.

The officers arrived at the apartment around 7:30 a.m., knocked on the door and spoke with a woman who answered it, Finner said. He said the man then came out and began shooting at the officers.

“You’ve got a suspect with a female girlfriend with small kids in that apartment complex and he still fired upon our officers,” Finner said. He said police returned fire and that the man died on the scene.

Authorities didn’t identify the man the officers were attempting to arrest. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.