Deputy Sheriff Barrett Travis Hill

Barrett Travis Hill

Deputy Sheriff Barrett Hill was shot and killed while chasing car theft suspects in a wooded area in the 900 block of Dunson Glen Drive.

He and his field training officer had responded to a call of two people breaking into cars. Upon their arrival, the suspects fled into a wooded area and the officers pursued them on foot. Deputy Hill radioed that he had captured one of the suspects.

Soon after, his training officer gunshots and was unable to reach Deputy Hill by radio. He was located moments later by his training officer. Despite wearing a vest, Deputy Hill had sustained gunshot wounds to the face, chest, and hand. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The subject who shot him then carjacked a woman in a nearby apartment complex and escaped the scene. He was arrested later in the morning approximately 75 miles away after being spotted by a sheriff's deputy in another jurisdiction. On January 16th, 2002, the man was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

Deputy Hill was a U.S. Army Veteran of the Gulf War. He had served as a jailer for the Harris County Sheriff's Office for 3-1/2 years and was just finishing his field training before becoming a patrol deputy. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, parents, and siblings.