Texas construction worker may have been pushed to his death: Sheriff

A Texas construction worker's death at a job site near Houston is being investigated as a possible homicide after the local sheriff said the man might have been pushed down a shaft.

The incident unfolded around 7:40 a.m. on Monday in the Houston suburb of Sheldon, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement on social media.

The sheriff's office told ABC Houston station KTRK that the 47-year-old victim had been involved in an altercation with his co-worker at the construction site before he plummeted to his death.

Gonzalez said the man, whose name was not immediately released, was found dead at the bottom of a 30- to 40-foot shaft.

"It's possible the man was pushed," Gonzalez said in his statement.

The Sheldon Fire Department was called to the incident and pronounced the man dead.

Harris County homicide detectives are investigating the incident, Gonzalez said.

Investigators detained the man's co-workers and were interviewing them about the circumstances surrounding the man's death.

No arrests have been announced.