AUSTIN, Texas — A stolen Fort Worth Fire Department ambulance was found in Austin after a chase which ended in a shooting on Interstate 35.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the suspect died after being shot by a trooper.
Texas DPS Sgt. Jason Galaviz said troopers were notified of the stolen ambulance at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.
A spokesperson for the Fort Worth Fire Department confirmed that an ambulance was stolen from one of its stations near Cobb Park Wednesday night.
Galaviz said troopers located the ambulance on I-35 in Williamson County and attempted to stop it. The driver of the stolen ambulance began evading law enforcement, Galaviz said. He said, once the ambulance was in the area of I-35 around U.S. 290 in Austin, it began ramming other cars.
“Troopers did attempt to pit the ambulance to get it to stop, but those attempts were unsuccessful,” Galaviz said. “The ambulance continued to ram vehicles as it began to travel on the upper deck on Interstate 35.”
A DPS trooper then shot the driver, and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Austin Police Department posted on X Thursday morning that the upper deck of I-35 would be closed for several hours because of “an active law enforcement incident involving DPS.”
The Texas Department of Transportation said at 8 a.m. Thursday that all lanes of southbound I-35 from U.S. 183 to Airport Boulevard, including both the upper and lower decks, would be closed.
At 1 p.m., Austin police announced that the lower deck of I-35 was reopened. The upper deck remains closed.
This is a developing story.