LA deputies ambushed out of hospital with 'long road to recovery'

KHOU-TV, Houston

USA TODAY

Shane Music

Corrections & clarifications: The headline on an earlier version of this story misstated who was shot and killed.

HOUSTON — An off-duty Texas police officer shot and killed an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, reportedly the officer's brother, inside the officer’s home Friday in suburban Houston, authorities said.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Scott Spencer told the Houston Chronicle the dead man is a Harris County sheriff’s deputy.

It was originally reported that the officer shot a burglar, but investigators now believe there was no burglary and that the two men were brothers, according to the Chronicle. They did not immediately offer a motive.

"The exact circumstances surrounding the shooting are under investigation," Spencer said. "We don't believe there was a burglary at the residence."

The shooting occurred in Stagecoach in Montgomery County, about 30 miles northwest of Houston.

Spencer said a Stagecoach Police Department officer came home and found a man inside the house. He then shot the suspect, whom officials identified as the off-duty Harris deputy and the shooter's brother.

Officers responded and found a man dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside of a bathroom at the home, Spencer said.

The Stagecoach officer was not injured.

The Stagecoach officer has 35 years of law enforcement experience, Spencer said. The Harris County deputy is also a longtime officer.