Jonathan Joss, a voice actor best known for his work on  the animated TV series King of the Hill, has been shot dead near his Texas home.

Police found the wounded 59-year-old near the street after being dispatched to a home in south San Antonio on Sunday night (local time).

He had been shot multiple times.

“The officers attempted life-saving measures until EMS arrived. EMS pronounced the victim deceased,” San Antonio police said.

Joss’ husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, confirmed the actor’s death to The Associated Press in a text.

The two were married earlier this year on Valentine’s Day.

TMZ reports that Joss was shot by a neighbour – alleged to be 56-year-old Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, who is now in police custody – after a disagreement.

De Gonzales said he and Joss had previously faced harassment, much of it “openly homophobic”.

He said the person who killed the Parks and Recreation star yelled “violent homophobic slurs” before opening fire.

“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” de Gonzales said.

In a post on X, San Antonio police provided no further information on what prompted the shooting. They said the investigation had “found no evidence whatsoever to indicate that Mr Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation”.

“We take such allegations very seriously and have thoroughly reviewed all available information. Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly,” police said.

Before the shooting, de Gonzales and Joss were checking mail at Joss’ home, which had been heavily damaged during a January fire that claimed the lives of their three dogs. De Gonzales said a man approached the couple and threatened them with a gun.

“That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done,” he said.

“Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”

After the shooting, authorities arrested 56-year-old Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja and charged him with murder in Joss’ death.

Joss, who grew up in San Antonio, was best known as the voice of John Redcorn, a Native American character on the popular King of the Hill animated series that ran for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2008.

A reboot of the show is set to start in August.

Joss also had a recurring role as Chief Ken Hotate on TV’s Parks and Recreation. He appeared in two episodes of the series Tulsa King in 2022.

Before he was fatally shot, Joss had been in Austin, about 130 kilometres north-east of San Antonio, for events related to a sneak peak of the King of the Hill revival.

On Saturday, Joss had posted a video on Instagram in which he said he was signing autographs at a comic book store in Austin.

“The fans get to revisit King of the Hill again, which I think is an amazing thing because it’s a great show,” he said in the video, adding he had already done voice work on four episodes of the revival.

De Gonzales said Joss was grateful for his fans.

“To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family,” he said.

-with AAP