Shoot-out erupts after armed store owner mistakes deputy for burglar, Texas police say

A store owner and deputy exchanged gunfire in Texas amid confusion at the scene of a burglary, police say.

Around 11:45 Monday night, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a burglary at a trucking equipment business near Houston, KTRK reported.

The owner told police he had surveillance video on the premises, but wasn’t there himself.

He arrived at the business not long after — but he didn’t know a deputy was already there, according to authorities.

Police said the business owner saw the deputy and mistook him for the burglar, firing at him.

The deputy returned fire, hitting the 72-year-old owner in the shoulder. Police said the owner was dressed in clothes that matched those the burglar was reportedly wearing.

The owner was taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition, police said.

The deputy, a 4-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was uninjured.

Over a radio, a dispatcher asked what had happened and the deputy responded, “He was walking towards me. He just started firing and I haven’t even checked the business,” KTRK reported.

When asked during a news conference how the store owner mistook the deputy for a burglar, Major Susan Cotter with the sheriff’s office explained that “it was dark and the deputy’s car was blacked out because he was responding to a burglary.”

Police said they didn’t find a suspect at the scene. The burglary is under investigation.

Officials said the business has been broken into several times in the past.