(Photo courtesy of Melissa Nix)

BELTON (May 1, 2012)—A warrant charging aggravated assault with a deadly weapon was served Tuesday on a man already jailed on an earlier charge stemming from an incident last month in which an off-duty police officer was injured in an exchange of gunfire.

Richard J. Breuer, 41, was charged earlier with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (family violence) in the April 6 incident at a residence in the 19700 block of FM 485.

He remains in the Bell County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bond on the original charge.

Off-duty Rogers police Officer Jimmy Smitherman, 38, was shot in the chest in the exchange of gunfire on April 6 outside the home in Zabcikville.

Breuer was also wounded.

Smitherman was shot after he went with Machele Breuer to collect belongings from the house where she used to live with her Richard Breuer, her estranged husband.

Machele Breuer told authorities Breuer had told her he was out of town, but when she entered the home she said he attacked her, grabbing her by the hair, dragging her into the living room and threatening to kill her, the sheriff's office said.

The officer, who was waiting in the truck, heard her screams, approached the front door of the house, identified himself as a police officer and ordered the man, who was armed with a pistol, to drop his gun.

The man then opened fire, shooting repeatedly at the officer, who was struck at least once in the chest, authorities said.

The officer fell to the ground in the front yard of the home, but the man continued to approach him with the gun pointed at him authorities said.

At that point, authorities said, the officer fired, striking the gunman.

The woman helped the wounded officer into the truck and as she began to drive off, the gunman opened fire on the pickup, authorities said.

Investigators later found a bullet hole in the windshield of the truck, but neither the woman nor the officer was struck by the shots fired as they fled.

Bell County Sheriff's Deputy James Lewing said the woman drove to the side of the road across from Green's Sausage House where an ambulance was parked, evidently while the crew was eating and called for help.