Deputy killed in courthouse shooting identified

BOWIE CO., TX (KSLA) - NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP) - Officials have identified a deputy shot dead in a Northeast Texas courthouse while escorting an inmate from a hearing.

Bowie County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Larry Parker says 54-year-old Deputy Sherri Jones died in the 2:30 p.m. Monday shooting in the county courthouse basement in New Boston.

The inmate has been identified as 21-year-old Tucker Strickland.  Parker says Jones was taking Strickland to a van for transfer to a state facility when Strickland overpowered her, grabbed her gun, shot her and fled in the van. 

Strickland was found with the van about 30 miles away in Ashdown, Arkansas, and awaits extradition in the Miller County Jail in Texarkana.

The sheriff's office says Strickland was in Rusk County for a psychological evaluation and had just returned to Bowie County for a court hearing.

Parker said deputies and Texas Rangers were obtaining a capital murder warrant for Strickland late Monday.  Bowie County is on the Texas-Arkansas border and includes Texarkana, Texas.

Related: 
Bowie Co. deputy killed, escapee captured in AR

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