A Texas television station's weatherman was shot multiple times during a confrontation in the station's parking lot on Wednesday morning, and the suspect is still at large, broadcaster KCEN-TV reported.
The employee, identified as morning show meteorologist Patrick Crawford at KCEN-TV, exchanged words with the suspect, who then pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and fired several times at him outside the station in Waco, according to DPS trooper D.L. Wilson.
The victim, who did not know the assailant, reportedly managed to drive away and flag down a construction worker, who then contacted police authorities, the station reported.
The shooting injured Crawford, who was rushed to Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, where he was undergoing surgery late Wednesday morning.
He is "very lucky" and is expected to survive, doctors told Crawford's friends at the hospital.
A manhunt is underway for the suspect, who is described as a 30-35-year-old white male with a receding hairline. He was last seen wearing a black, hooded-sweatshirt and dark jeans, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the station was placed on lockdown as police and K-9 teams searched inside the station, with employees not being allowed to leave the building.
The parking lot has also been blocked while dozens of law enforcement officers are reportedly patrolling the area with assault rifles.
All schools in the Bruceville-Eddy Independent School District as well as the Bruceville-Eddy Special Events Center and an administration building remain on lockdown, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.
Crawford was a meteorologist for WDSU from 2010 to 2011.
