Teen Disarms, Shoots SE Texas Deputy

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) _ Authorities say a Southeast Texas deputy has been shot twice in the shoulder with his own gun after a 16-year-old boy in custody allegedly disarmed the officer and opened fire.

A Jefferson County sheriff’s spokesman tells KFDM-TV that Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Fred Ashworth was hospitalized in stable condition after surgery for two gunshot wounds in the shoulder.

Jefferson County sheriff’s Deputy Rod Carroll says one bullet was left in Ashworth’s body until swelling subsided.

Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Hogan says Ashworth wasn’t wearing a protective vest when he was shot Thursday morning.

Carroll says Ashworth was wounded while returning the teen to the Minnie Rogers Juvenile Detention Center, near Beaumont, after a court hearing in Orange. The teen is charged with attempted capital murder.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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