Friend describes slain Texas prosecutor as 'hard-nosed'

FROM CNN WIRES:

Mark Hasse "had an absolute passion for putting away bad guys, and he enjoyed nothing better," his boss said.

Now investigators are looking into whether that passion led to Hasse being gunned down outside his office in Kaufman, Texas, where he was an assistant district attorney. Hasse was killed in the parking lot of the Kaufman County courthouse Thursday morning, shot several times after "a very small, very short confrontation," Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh said.

This morning on "Starting Point," attorney Eric Smenner talks with Soledad O'Brien about the passing of his friend, and describes Hasse's work ethic.

READ MORE: Prosecutor gunned down outside Texas courthouse