DALLAS — The suspect in the fatal shooting of a state trooper in East Texas during a Thanksgiving Day traffic stop was charged Friday with capital murder of a law enforcement officer.

Dabrett Black, 32, was being held in the Brazos County jail in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. He is accused in the shooting death of Trooper Damon Allen on Thursday.

The state Department of Public Safety said in social media posts late Thursday that Allen initiated a traffic stop shortly before 4 p.m. on Interstate 45 near Fairfield, about 90 miles south of Dallas. Public safety said Black shot Allen with a rifle after the trooper walked back to his vehicle.

Allen died at the scene, public safety officials said. He had been with the department since 2002 and was married with three children.

The state said Black, of Lindale, Texas, fled the scene in a car and was spotted about three hours later more than 100 miles south of Fairfield, in Waller County.

Waller County sheriff’s officers posted on Facebook that deputies were attempting to take Black into custody when shots were fired. It was not clear from the statement who opened fire.Black fled on foot and was taken into custody after being found in a nearby field. He was treated for nonlife-threatening injuries.

According to court and jail records, Black has a history of evading arrest and violent run-ins with law enforcement officers.

Associated Press