Gunman found dead after Texas shootings

Gunman found dead after Texas shootings

Associated Press

UPDATE 3:40 p.m. (PST):

Authorities say a man suspected of shooting four people in East Texas has died.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says search dogs led officers to a boat where Pavol Vido was hiding. Investigators said he shot himself with a handgun when confronted by police.

The department helped with the manhunt for Vido. It says the 65-year-old was located about 50 yards (46 meters) from where officers found the car he used to drive away from shooting scene at a plumbing company near Cleveland, Texas.

Police say Vido fatally shot a woman and wounded two men before fleeing. Investigators say he later got into a gunfight with a sheriff's deputy, and the deputy was injured.

Original story below.

CLEVELAND, Texas — Police searched Wednesday for a man they say killed a woman and wounded three people, including a sheriff's deputy, during shootings that started at a plumbing company in East Texas.

A woman was killed and two men injured around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at the business east of Cleveland, a city of 8,000 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Houston, Liberty County sheriff's Capt. Ken DeFoor said.

DeFoor said the suspect, Pablo Vito, was driving away from the plumbing company when deputies pursued him on a local highway. He said Vito pulled off and exchanged gunfire with the deputies near a veterinary clinic.

A deputy was shot in the throat and flown to a Houston hospital where he was in stable condition, DeFoor said.

Vito fled and authorities continued to search for him. DeFoor said Vito was driving a white 2004 Mercury.

DeFoor did not provide the names of any of those who were shot, including the deputy.

Public schools in Cleveland were locked down Wednesday morning, according to a statement on the district's Facebook page.

UPDATE: Wynne Unit bloodhound Raider caught the scent at the location where Pavol Vido's vehicle was found, followed that 50 yards to a boat, where the suspect was found hiding. When confronted by law enforcement, Vido shot himself with a handgun. pic.twitter.com/Ob6dQgR3eO

— TDCJ (@TDCJ) May 29, 2019