A Central Texas police chief working an off-duty security job at a bar in Temple has been shot and critically wounded during a struggle with a customer.

Temple police say Darrell Allen, the chief in Marlin, has been undergoing surgery at Baylor Scott and White Hospital after the shooting early Sunday. His injuries are considered life threatening.

Police say a 24-year-old Temple man, Derrick Wayne Gamble, is in custody and awaiting arraignment on a charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer.

Authorities say Allen was trying to detain Gamble at a Temple bar called the Laid Back Lounge when he was shot.

Allen has been in law enforcement since 1994. He's been chief in Marlin, a town of about 6,000 some 30 miles northeast of Temple, since 2009.

