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Texas deputy shot, killed by inmate

Authorities are unsure where the inmate got the gun he used to kill her before driving away in the sheriff’s van

Duty Death: Deputy Sheriff Sherri Jones - [Bowie County Sheriff’s Department]

Associated Press

NEW BOSTON, Texas — 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.

He says Jones was taking 21-year-old Tucker Strickland to a van for transfer to a state facility when Strickland overpowered her, grabbed her gun, shot her and fled in the van. Parker says Strickland was found with the van about 30 miles away in Ashdown, Ark., and awaits extradition in the Miller County Jail in Texarkana, Ark.

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.

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