HOUSTON, Texas — Video has been released showing the ambush of the Houston-area constable who was shot on Wednesday as he was kneeling by a deputy trainee’s patrol car. The ambush occurred after a routine traffic stop in Houston’s Third Ward, a neighborhood known for violent crime. A person of interest has been questioned.
The video was an exclusive release by the NBC affiliate in Houston, Click2 Houston.
Breitbart Texas reported on Wednesday that the eleven-year veteran, Deputy Constable Alden Clopton, was shot four times in what is being reported as an “absolute ambush.” The shooter fired six shots in all.
The Harris County (Houston), Texas Precinct 7 constable deputy was kneeling by the side of a deputy trainee’s car when the ambush occurred. He had his back exposed and was helping the trainee, Reserve Deputy Anne Glasco, with her computer. After he was shot, the female deputy constable trainee got out of her patrol car and shot back. It is not known at this time whether the shooter sustained any injuries.
The shooter cannot be seen within the surveillance video frame.
Deputy Clopton is still in serious condition after sustaining shots to his chest and stomach area. Doctors reported that his surgery went well and he is in critical but stable condition in the shock trauma intensive care unit at Memorial Herman hospital in Houston. Physicians do not expect that any future surgeries will be needed. He is expected to be in the hospital for at least one more week.
No arrests have been made but a person of interest showed up at a fire station shortly after the ambush. No more information is presently available about this individual or about what the person told those at the fire station. There have been no arrests or charges.
Deputy Clopton is the father of five children and his wife is a Harris County sheriff’s deputy. His three brothers are also law enforcement officers.
Clopton is the second law enforcement officer to be ambushed within less than a year in Houston. Breitbart Texas reported extensively on the case of Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth. Goforth was at a gas station in uniform with his partol car when he was gunned down 15 times in the head and the back. Deputy Goforth died at the scene. His accused murderer, Shannon Miles, is not going to trial at this time because he has been found incompetent to stand trial, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
After Deputy Goforth’s execution-style killing, Breitbart Texas was at the press conference when Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman addressed the anti-cop behavior that had been occurring in the area after the death of Sandra Bland in a Waller County, Texas jail. Breitbart Texas reported about these events from the rural county jail. The jail where Bland died is approximately 40 miles from where Deputy Goforth was shot.
When asked about the motivation for the shooting, Sheriff Hickman answered, “This rhetoric has gotten out of control.” He added, “We’ve heard ‘black lives matter,’ ‘all lives matter,’ well cops’ lives matter too,” said the leader of the third largest sheriff’s office in the country. The visibly emotional Hickman continued, “Why don’t we just drop the qualifier and say ‘lives matter.’ Take that to the bank.” “At this point,” referring to the executed deputy, the sheriff said, “he was only targeted because he was wearing a uniform.”
Miles was charged with capitol murder for shooting a police officer with the motivation for the shooting being that he was a police officer, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2