Veteran El Paso police officer shoots suspicious man with gun near Lower Valley school

EL PASO, Texas -- A veteran El Paso police officer shot and wounded a suspicious man with a gun who was wandering the grounds of Riverside High School, authorities said.

The officer-involved shooting happened shortly after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday near Hockney and Midway in the Lower Valley.

That's where police said they tracked a 23-year-old man who was spotted on the grounds of Riverside a short time earlier.

The man had a handgun and an approaching officer opened fire, shooting the man at least once and wounding him, a police spokesman said.

"We don't know the motive of what (the man) was doing. It's too early to tell," Sgt. Robert Gomez told ABC-7.

The man shot was taken to Del Sol Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries; he was listed in stable condition on Wednesday afternoon.

The officer, a 22-year veteran of EPPD, was placed on standard administrative leave while the incident is investigated by Texas Rangers.

Neither the names of the man shot or the officer were released by authorities.

Riverside High and Riverside Middle schools were on lockdown for a couple of hours due to the incident, police said.