Student arrested in fatal shooting of police officer at Texas college

A 19-year-old student has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a police officer at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, officials said on Monday night.

The university was on lockdown on Monday night.

Texas Tech police went to check on the welfare of the student, Hollis Daniels, earlier on Monday and after allegedly discovering drugs officers took him to the school's police station, the university said in a statement.

Daniels, reportedly a freshman from Seguin near San Antonio, pulled a gun, shot an officer in the head and then fled on foot before being caught and arrested later, officials said. The officer died.

Daniels was a 19-year-old student in his first year at college, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.

“First and foremost, our hearts go out to the family of the police officer killed at Texas Tech University," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.

Lubbock, home to more than 240,000 people, is about 300 miles (483 km) west of Dallas.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Paul Tait and Jeffrey Benkoe)