1 dead, multiple injured after truck crashes into Texas public safety office: Officials

One person has died and multiple were injured after a vehicle crashed into a Department of Public (DPS) office in Brenham, Texas, officials confirmed Friday.

“DPS can confirm that 14 people were injured in today’s tragic incident at the Brenham DPS Office,” the Texas DPS’s Southeast Region said in a post on social platform X Friday.

“One is now deceased, two have serious injuries, three were taken to a hospital &  released, and eight were treated at the scene,” the post reads.

DPS Sgt. Justin Reese said in a news conference that the truck used in the incident was a stolen 18-wheeler. He also identified the suspect as Clenard Park, 42, from nearby Chappell Hill.

Reese added that Park had come to the DPS office in the town on Thursday and was denied a commercial driver’s license.

News of the crash was first reported earlier Friday by the DPS’s Southeast Region in a post on social platform X. The post also said there were reports of “multiple serious injuries.”

The agency asked people to stay away from the area as investigators and medical personnel responded.

In a later post, the DPS’s Southeast Region said the Texas Rangers “are investigating this incident,” and a suspect was arrested and that there “is no further threat to the community.”

Photos used by various outlets showed what appeared to be a large red truck surrounded by a field of debris in front of a building.

Local television station KHOU reported that, per scanner traffic, at least 14 people were hurt and six people were taken to hospitals. It also reported that the truck was stolen in the nearby community of Chappell Hill.

“We believe this was a criminal act,” Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak told KHOU.

The Washington Country Sheriff’s Office referred The Hill to the DPS.

The Hill has also reached out to the Brenham Police Department.

Updated April 12 at 10:30 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.