Deputy cleared in shooting

The Milam County deputy wounded during a shootout with a person suffering from a mental health situation has been cleared in that deadly incident. 

Milam County District Attorney Bill Torrey announced that the Milam County Grand Jury on Thursday, Dec. 15, decided that Mental Health Deputy Sam Ferguson IV was clearly justified in the use of deadly force for self-defense. 

Torrey said First Assistant District Attorney Brian Price presented the case and Texas Ranger Sgt. Kenneth Shields investigated and testified before the Grand Jury. 

Ferguson, who returned back home last month, was shot in the line of duty on Oct. 19. He will still have a long road to recovery though. 

Ferguson was working with the Central Counties Services Mobile Crisis Outreach Team conducting a mental health assessment on a subject, later identified as 64-year-old Mark Edward Evers, experiencing a mental health crisis when things went south. 

After the response team determined Evers was uncooperative and posed a danger to himself, Ferguson attempted to take him into custody under an emergency order of detention. 

During that attempt, Evers opened fire, hitting Ferguson in the face and abdomen. Ferguson was able to return fire and kill the assailant.