Lufkin man shot, killed by deputies

A 50-year-old Lufkin man was fatally wounded in a shooting incident with two Cherokee County deputies around 3 p.m. Monday.

Allen Lee Wallace, 50, died shortly after being shot in the head.

Sheriff James Campbell said, "My officer received a call from the man's family in Lufkin saying he (Mr. Wallace) was en route to his mother's grave at the Sardis Cemetery. They asked that we check on him because they feared he was going to kill himself."

When an officer arrived at the cemetery he found Mr. Wallace's truck parked across CR 2218 with the door open and the keys still in the ignition.

Mr. Wallace called to the officer. He was sitting in a canvas chair, facing his mother's grave. A handgun was at his feet. Another officer arrived and the two deputies tried to soothe Mr. Wallace.

During this time, Mr. Wallace picked up his pistol and aimed it toward the deputies, Sheriff Campbell said.

Shots were fired, the man was wounded and the officers unhurt.

An EMS ambulance and helicopter were called to the scene, and Mr. Wallace was pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital.

Rusk Volunteer Fire Department assisted by securing the helicopter landing site.

Texas Ranger Rudy Flores of Palestine is investigating the incident. The two officers were sent home Tuesday and will report for light duty Wednesday. Sheriff Campbell said Cherokee County hasn't had an officer involved in a fatal shooting in approximately 20 years.

In 1987, two deputies answered a disturbance at Shadybrook in the north end of the county. The officers were fired on and Deputy Frank Lindsey was wounded before he shot and killed the suspect. Two young men were shot in separate incidents with officers during the tenure of Sheriff Danny Stallings in the late 1970s. John Robert Odom was fatally wounded while struggling with an officer in a car parked on a rural road off U.S. Highway 69. Jimmy Pryor was killed in a shooting incident at a roadside park off FM 23.