Cleveland shooting suspect shoots himself, according to police

A man suspected of killing an employee of a Cleveland area plumbing company that evicted him from their property and then later shooting a Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputy fatally shot himself after eluding authorities for hours Wednesday, officials said.

The man, identified as Pavol Vido, was found behind a house about mile and a half away from the deadly shooting at B Dependable plumbing, along FM 321. The 65-year-old man fatally shot himself, said Sgt. Erik Burse with the Texas Department of Public Safety, apparently just as authorities were closing in on him.

A Liberty County sheriff’s deputy who was investigating the shooting at the business and who later exchanged gunfire with Vido remains in a Houston hospital in stable condition.

The first shooting was reported to authorities at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Ken DeFoor. Authorities are trying to determine, however, when the shooting occurred and DeFoor said it could have been as early as late Tuesday.

The gunman fatally shot a woman who worked there as a secretary and apparently waited until other employees arrived on Wednesday morning, DeFoor said. Two men were then shot, the captain said, and the gunman fled.

Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputy Richard Whitten then spotted Vido, DeFoor said.

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The two pulled into the Big Thicket Veterinary Clinic in the 24800 block of FM 321, not far from the plumbing company, where they exchanged gunfire, DeFoor said. The deputy was struck in the neck and was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

Whitten is in stable condition, said Patton Village Chief Shannon Sharp and his family is at the hospital.

Whitten has served as a patrol deputy for the sheriff’s office for the last four years, DeFoor said.

The conditions of the two other employees injured are unclear.

The manhunt for Vido took authorities to a county road about a mile away, where he ditched the   white 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis he was driving. Vido then headed north and apparently hid behind a house, in a boat stored upside down and held by a trailer, neighbors said.

Authorities have not speculated on a motive for the shooting, but said the eviction will be part of the investigation. Vido was living in a storage shed behind the plumbing business, likely a transient, Burse said. He had been served with an eviction notice within 48 hours of the shooting, the sergeant said

Vido had several misdemeanor convictions in Harris County dating back to 1982. He was found guilty of unlawful carry of a weapon, driving with a suspended license in 1984, and driving while intoxicated in 1992.

He was found not guilty on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 1990, as well as on a deadly conduct charge in 1994.