HARDIN COUNTY, Texas — A Sour Lake man who shot a Hardin County deputy with a crossbow Thursday morning is in stable condition after the deputy was forced to shoot him, investigators said.
The deputy shot 38-year-old Taylor Kyle Shackelford after the man shot the deputy in the face with an arrow June 20, Hardin County Sheriff Mark Davis said in a release.
The deputy has been released from the hospital and is recovering, Hardin County Sheriff Mark Davis said.
Shackelford, who was conscious, was flown by medical helicopter from the scene at Highway 105 and Old Sour Lake Road to a Southeast Texas hospital the release said. He is in stable condition at a local hospital under custody of
law enforcement, Davis said. He was still in the ICU as of the afternoon of June 21.
Shackelford is charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer, according to a first degree felony warrant issued by Hardin County Justice of the Peace Chris Ingram.
The deputy was hit above the left eye and was conscious and alert when he was taken to the hospital, Davis said, adding that the arrow did not penetrate his skull.
"He's really lucky," Davis said.
The deputy was dispatched with a Spindletop Center crisis worker to a residence in the 30000 block of Old Sour Lake Road at about 10:45 a.m. after the man’s family requested assistance from the mental health division at the sheriff’s office.
While they were talking to the man, he came out of the residence armed with the crossbow and shot the deputy, Davis said. Although the deputy was bleeding, he then shot the man with his service weapon to protect himself and others in the area, Davis said.
The Texas Rangers are leading the investigation.
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