Bounty hunter shoots wanted suspect to death, sheriff says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A man was shot to death Monday night after Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said a bounty hunter found a wanted suspect he was in search of at a west Harris County apartment.

Deputies were called to the Park Falls Apartments on Park Row Drive around 7 p.m. after the bounty hunter called 911 and allegedly told them he shot and killed a fugitive.

According to the sheriff's office, the wanted man had warrants for domestic violence.

The suspect was in a pickup truck with his fiancée and a 3-month-old child, when he blocked in the bounty hunter, put the vehicle in reverse and tried to run over him, authorities said.

That's when the agent fired his weapon several times and struck the suspect, according to deputies.

Upon their arrival, authorities said they found a Hispanic man in his 20s dead. The woman and the baby were not hurt.

Neither the victim nor the bounty hunter were immediately identified.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office will be contacted to determine if charges will be filed or if the case will be presented to a grand jury.

Bounty hunters are not police officers in the state of Texas. Instead, they are licensed through the Texas Department of Public Safety.

According to Sgt. Dennis Wolford with the sheriff's office's homicide unit, there are various degrees of licenses that determine if a bounty hunter can carry a firearm.

Wolford said part of the investigation will include if this bounty hunter was licensed to have the gun in Texas.