A Texas deputy who was shot and killed outside a Houston bar had just returned to work after paternity leave.
The deputy, identified as 30-year-old, Kareem Atkins, leaves behind a wife and new baby who is only a few months old.
Atkins was killed after a gunman “came out of nowhere” and fired on him and two other deputies as they were trying to detain someone early Saturday morning. The two other deputies, 28-year-old Darryl Garrett and 26-year-old Juqaim Barthen, were injured, Constable Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 said.
“Deputies Atkins, Garrett, and Barthen are true law enforcement heroes that were cowardly ambushed while serving and protecting their community,” Herman continued.
Authorities confirmed that the fatal shooting happened around 2:15 a.m., after at least two of the Precinct 4 constable deputies, who were working an extra job at 45 Norte Sports Bar, went outside to check on a disturbance.