Officer fatally shoots suspect who killed hostage in chase on I-35W in Fort Worth: police

A Fort Worth police officer fatally shot a suspect who killed a hostage during a car chase on Interstate 35W on Sunday night, the police chief said at a news conference.

Chief Neil Noakes said that police in Troy called the Fort Worth Police Department about 7:20 p.m. for assistance in a chase that began in Central Texas and was going north on I-35W, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported.

The car that officers were pursuing crashed on I-35W near Spur 280, and a male passenger was holding the female driver at gunpoint, Noakes said.

The man shot the woman, and after police heard the gunshot from the car, at least one officer shot the suspect, Noakes said at the news conference.

Police took the woman to a hospital, but both she and the suspect were pronounced dead, he said.

Officers “were presented with a deadly situation where there was a hostage inside a vehicle, based on the information we know now, who had been shot,” Noakes said, according to WFAA. “There’s an armed person inside of the vehicle.”

Officers “formulated a plan and acted,” Noakes said. “They did what they could to try to save that victim despite the danger that was presented.”

The Fort Worth Police Department’s major case and internal affairs units will investigate the shooting.

The names of the suspect and the victim have not been released.

Police said on Twitter shortly after the shooting that all traffic was stopped and asked drivers to avoid the area. As of about 2:35 a.m. Monday, police reported that the freeway had been reopened.

The Texas Department of Public Safety and Hill County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the pursuit.

Troy is about 115 miles south of Fort Worth.