1 dead, 3 including deputy wounded in East Texas shootings

Police searched Wednesday for a man they say killed a woman and wounded three people, including a sheriff's deputy, during shootings that started at a veterinary clinic in East Texas.

A woman was killed and two men injured around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at the clinic east of Cleveland, a city of 8,000 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Houston, according to Liberty County sheriff's Capt. Ken DeFoor.

DeFoor said the suspect, Pablo Vito, was driving away from the clinic when deputies pursued him on a local highway. He said Vito pulled off and exchanged gunfire with the deputies near a plumbing business.

A deputy was shot in the throat and flown to a Houston hospital where he is in stable condition, DeFoor said.

Vito fled and authorities continued to search for him. DeFoor said Vito was driving a white 2004 Mercury.

DeFoor did not provide the names of any of those who were shot, including the deputy.

Public schools in Cleveland were locked down Wednesday morning, according to a statement on the district's Facebook page.