Texas police officer shot in own home just two months before he was set to retire

Sergeant Craig Hutchinson had worked for the police for 32 years

The sheriff said Mr Hutchinson 'taught me everything I know' (KVUE)

A deputy sheriff has been shot dead in Austin less than two months before he was to retire.

Travis County sheriff’s deputy, sergeant Craig Hutchinson, called on the police radio around 1am Sunday morning to report that people were running out of his garden.

He was found shot in his garden at Round Rock about 10 minutes after the call. He died at a local hospital.

Travis County sheriff Greg Hamilton said the attack appeared to be a robbery and authorities do not think it was an ambush or targeted attack.

He added that Mr Hutchinson was his field training officer.

“He taught me everything I know,” he said, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman. “This guy was a big teddy bear.”

After Mr Hutchinson made the call, dozens of police vehicles arrived in the residential area with tactical gear and rifles.

Police are searching for two suspects, and have told neighbours to stay inside their homes while the investigation is ongoing.

Mr Hamilton told reporters that it was also a time of "moral bankruptcy", and everyone should come together to solve the issue.

"He was a gentle bear, and I loved that guy to death," he said, as reported by KVUE.

Austin police chief Art Acevedo said we live in a “sad, troubling time”.

The news comes after several police shootings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where three officers were killed, and in Dallas, where five were gunned down and seven more were wounded.