Off-duty officer shoots robber in Houston-area Walmart

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — An off-duty Houston police officer shot a would-be robber who was robbing a customer service clerk at gunpoint in a suburban Walmart department store on Wednesday, officials said.

The incident happened about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the store just outside Humble, 14 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Houston. A Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman says the officer just happened to be in the store when she saw the holdup occurring and shot the suspect.

The spokesman says the suspect was hospitalized in stable condition, and no one else was injured. No identities were released, but a Houston police spokesman says the officer is a 17-year veteran of the Houston Police Department.