Off-duty deputy shoots self chasing after shoplifting suspect in Pasadena

PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- Sunday afternoon shopping turned chaotic when an off-duty deputy fired on a suspected shoplifter and struck his own leg.

"There were families, kids, everywhere," an eyewitness named Beth said.

She was inside Marshalls on Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena when she literally brushed shoulders with the man who started it all.

She said he had an armful of clothes and ran right past her, nearly knocking her over. "There were still hangers on the clothes. I looked up, he just ran up, grabbed a big stack and ran out," she said, still shaken a couple of hours after it happened.

Beth said she walked outside and saw a man who was fast on his feet, chasing after the shoplifter.

"I know he had jeans on, I saw a badge on his belt. I think I saw a gun. He was gone," she said describing the scene.

According to Pasadena Police an off-duty deputy with Precinct 5 just happened to be in the area on his day off. He chased the shoplifter to his car before the thief tried to run over the deputy, police said.

That's when the deputy pulled his gun and fired several shots, one of them ricocheted and struck his own leg.

Beth said another officer started yelling at people to clear the lot.

"I squatted down, my car was about seven or eight feet from me. I was able to get in the passenger side and we drove off."

But, the shoplifter got away. The deputy was taken to Memorial Hermann Southeast with a gunshot wound to the leg.

Pasadena Police said his injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

Officers have not released an official description of the shoplifting suspect, but believe he may have driven off in a black Honda.