Investigators Tight-Lipped About Shooting Death Of Deputy
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NOCONA (CBS 11 NEWS) - Hours after an official news conference, critical questions remain unanswered in the shooting death of a Montague County sheriff's deputy.
Larry Hostetter, 41, was off-duty when a Nocona police officer responded to his home for a disturbance call, and within an hour he was dead.
Texas Rangers have taken over the case, and for now investigators are saying almost nothing about what happened Sunday night.
The sound of gunshots is so uncommon in the quiet neighborhood, some neighbors like Jesus Esparza's wife couldn't believe their ears.
"She told me, 'did you hear the shot?' No, I didn't. She says, 'yeah, I think, unless it was a firework or something,'" Esparza said.
Cleary moved by the death of his deputy, Montague County Sheriff Paul Cunningham described Hostetter as a good person who loved his job at the tight-knit department.
"As small a department as we are, these are like my children," Cunningham said.
But investigators remained tight-lipped about the most basic details of the case. While the officer who responded to what is only described as a disturbance call has been placed on administrative leave, neither the sheriff nor the police chief would confirm it was the officer who shot the deputy.
"There's no need to worry about somebody else been involved. This is a controlled situation," Cunningham said.
In fact the response to virtually every question reporters asked was the same.
"For the integrity of the investigation we cannot go any further of any details until the Rangers are done with their investigation and the District Attorney's office," Nacoma Police Chief Kent Holcomb said.
Meanwhile neighbors are left to wonder what really happened behind closed doors.
Esparza said, "It's a sad thing, you know because we lost a life, you know. But nowadays you never know what's going to happen."
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