Driver fatally shoots himself after police chase through North Texas counties, DPS says
A police pursuit that began in Decatur and spanned multiple North Texas counties ended with a driver’s death by suicide in Cooke County on Monday night, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The chase began around 6:15 p.m. after Decatur police were called to a business on a report that a “suspicious person in a Ford Excursion” was parked outside, the Department of Public Safety said on Tuesday.
When Decatur police officers approached the vehicle, the driver, Tristan Almanzar, 26, fled, according to DPS. Troopers later joined the chase. Almanzar lived in Midlothian.
“The pursuit spanned multiple counties and several local law enforcement agencies assisted in an effort to stop the vehicle,” DPS said. “The suspect’s vehicle tires were deflated by the use of a tire deflation device in Cooke County on the service road of Interstate 35 near mile marker 501.”
After the vehicle’s tires were deflated, Almanzar fired a gun outside his window into the air, DPS said.
“The suspect then continued traveling north on the service road of Interstate 35, lost control of the vehicle and stopped in the median,” DPS said.
When law enforcement officers approached the vehicle, they saw Almanzar was suffering from a head wound and unresponsive. First responders at the scene tried to save Almanzar’s life, but he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, DPS said.
A Texas Rangers investigation remained ongoing.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 12:15 PM.
