Dallas police officer killed in overnight crash with suspected drunk driver

DALLAS, Texas (KTRK) -- A Dallas police officer died early Saturday in a major crash involving a suspected drunk driver, authorities said.

It happened around 1:20 a.m. on a freeway north of downtown while police were working a previous crash, according to Dallas police.

The officer was standing outside of his marked patrol vehicle when the driver of a Kia Forte traveling at a high rate of speed collided with the officer, Dallas police said.

The officer later died at a hospital, and the driver of the Kia was taken into custody with pending charges.

The death was the first for the department since Nov. 2020 when Sgt. Bronc Justin McCoy, a 21-year veteran, died of COVID-19.

The crash is the latest in a dangerous trend of line-of-duty incidents involving crashes. From 2010-2019, 132 line-of-duty deaths in the United States were due to being struck by a vehicle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.