By Mike Glenn

Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON — A Houston police officer is expected to remain in the hospital overnight and possibly for a few days more after he was shot in the midtown area.

Officer Terry Smith, 47, was listed in stable condition late Tuesday following surgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

Smith, an HPD motorcycle officer, was shot in the back about 6 p.m. Tuesday following a traffic stop in the 4200 block of Main, authorities said.

Police said they don't know who shot the 20-year HPD veteran or why.

"It's unclear right now what the actual circumstances are. We really need the public's help on this one," said Victor Senties, an HPD spokesman.

Police don't believe the traffic stop played any role in the shooting. The driver had already left and Smith was packing up his ticket book when a shot rang out.

"He did not know what transpired. All he knew was that he heard a loud 'pop' and felt some pain," Senties said.

Houston Fire Department paramedics were called to the scene. They examined Smith and located a gunshot wound in his back, officials said.

"That's when he was transported," to the hospital, Senties said.

Anyone with information about the shooting of Officer Smith is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS or HPD homicide detectives at 713-308-3600.

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