Driver rams stolen truck into Texas building after licence bid rejected
12 April 2024, 22:14
One person was killed and 13 hurt in the incident in Brenham.
A Texas lorry driver has rammed a stolen truck into a building after his request to renew his commercial driver’s licence was rejected, killing one person and injuring 13 others.
The driver identified as Clenard Parker, 42, was pulled out of the truck by authorities after smashing into the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) office in the rural town of Brenham, outside Houston.
“It’s unfortunate that we are here gathered for a really senseless tragedy,” Brenham Mayor Atwood Kenjura said.
After crashing into the building the first time, he had backed up with the intention of doing it again before he was detained, Mr Kenjura said.
“This deliberate, heinous act is a reminder of the dangerous work done by our law enforcement and licensing agencies that work to provide public safety and services,” Republican state senator Lois Kolkhorst said.
Of those injured, two people were flown to CHI St Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan, one was flown to Memorial Hermann in Houston and three people were taken to Baylor Scott and White in Brenham but have since been released.
Eight people were treated on the scene. Ms Kolkhorst said in the statement that no DPS staff suffered serious injuries and one staff member was trapped “for a period of time” in the building.
Texas DPS officials said in a social media post on X that the crash happened at the agency’s office in Brenham, about 75 miles west of Houston and requested people avoid the area to clear the way for responding medical personnel.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident and there is no further threat, DPS officials said.
Images from the scene showed a large, red lorry hauling material on a flatbed in the car park of the building.
The front end of the 18-wheeler was damaged and covered with debris from the front doors of the office. Debris was also scattered near a gaping hole in the entrance.
The Texas DPS is a sprawling agency and one of the largest state law enforcement operations in the country.
It includes troopers who are a central part of a massive border security operation on the US-Mexico border as well as the Texas Rangers, the state’s top criminal investigators but the department also has offices across the state that issue driver’s licences.
