# violence
A Texas police officer was shot and killed in a "senseless act of violence" during a "disturbance" outside a grocery store on Friday. The officer, identified as Richard Houston, was among those responding to a disturbance around 1:40 p.m. Friday when he was shot multiple times, the Mesquite Police Department said on its Facebook page. The officer was pronounced dead at Baylor Hospital at 2:11 p.m., the department said. The suspect was shot during an argument, the statement said. The accused shooter is in critical condition at a local hospital, according to WFAA. It was not immediately clear who fired first. Witnesses told the station they were shocked by the shooting. "It's close to home. I live on the other side of this Albertson. It was scary, according to WFAA, "said one woman at the scene. "No one, the victim or the police, deserves to be hurt like this." Houston was a 21-year veteran of the Mesquite Police Department and had received several honors, according to the Mesquite police chief and the department's Facebook post.