In another case of gun violence in the United States, a
police officer was killed while another was injured in the Harris County of Houston on Monday, during
a shooting that also killed a 31-year-old man who the officers were attempting
to arrest on drug charges, authorities said.

The suspect shot the veteran officers multiple times while
they were attempting to serve an arrest warrant at an apartment complex on the
city’s northeast side, the Associated Press quoted Mayor Sylvester Turner as
saying.

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

Officer William Jeffrey, who was with the Houston police
department since 1990, was pronounced dead at a Houston hospital following the shooting,
authorities said. Sargent Charles Vance, who joined the department in 1997, was
hospitalized in stable condition, according to Police Chief Troy Finner, the Associated
Press reported.

According to Finner, the two officers had arrived at the
apartment at around 7:30 am. They knocked on the door which a woman answered. The
officers briefly spoke with the woman. Finner added that the suspect then came
out of the building and began shooting at the officers.

“You have got a suspect with a female girlfriend with
small kids in that apartment complex and he still fired upon our
officers,” Finner said while adding that the officers returned fire and in
the gunfight that ensued, the man died on the scene.

The police are yet to reveal the identity of the man the
officers were attempting to arrest. The shooting is being investigated by the
Harris County Sheriff’s office, according to the Associated Press.