According to her family, Seyedeh Mandana Moeini, 52, was on her way to work at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where she worked as a medical laboratory technician.
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Investigators said their sergeant was responding to a call at about 10:30 p.m. about a man with a gun who was making threats at a drug store, when the crash happened on 14th Street and Broadway.
Officials said Moeini was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital. In a later update, officials said she died from her injuries.
Video from the scene shows front-end damage to the Galveston police cruiser. The woman's sedan was smashed, and it appeared the airbags deployed in both vehicles.
Police said they don't know if the officer had their lights and sirens on at the time of the crash, and nearly 24 hours later, they could not answer whether the sergeant did.
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Pattsy Trost, who lives next to where the crash happened, said she heard the collision but no sirens. She remembered thinking it was odd.
"I just had gone to the bathroom, and I heard a loud crash, so loud, my kitty ran," Trost said. "It was 10:54 p.m., and I came out and I saw three cars, and the middle one at the time, I thought, was a police car but no sirens on. No lights flashing. I wondered why there were no sirens, so I figured hopefully nobody was hurt."
The sergeant has been identified as Christopher McNeil, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is now heading the investigation.
ABC13 has reached out to Galveston police about McNeil's employment status but has not heard back.
Family members expressed the need for transparency in light of lingering questions surrounding whether the sergeant was following proper protocols.
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The sergeant sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Galveston police said the cruiser has in-car cameras, and the officer was wearing a body camera. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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