DENTON, TX — A police pursuit tied to a Plano murder investigation ended Monday with the death of the suspect after a crash and fire on northbound Interstate 35 near Sanger and Valley View. Valley View police said the Texas Department of Public Safety was chasing a male suspect connected to a fatal shooting in Plano when the encounter turned violent.
Authorities said a state trooper tried to stop the driver, who opened fire and sped away around 10 a.m. The chase moved onto I-35, where the vehicle crashed near Chisam Road in northern Denton County and caught fire. Law enforcement later confirmed the driver was dead, and no officers were seriously hurt or killed.
Plano shooting investigation began Sunday night on Lakestream Drive
Plano police said the pursuit grew out of a homicide investigation linked to a shooting at a home on Lakestream Drive near Parker Road on Sunday night. Police spokesperson Jerry Minton said one woman was killed in that shooting and had been identified, but her name had not yet been released Monday afternoon while next-of-kin notification was pending.
The suspect in that case was not publicly named in the immediate aftermath of the chase. Minton said the driver was believed to be the same person tied to the fatal shooting, but the medical examiner would have to make the official identification of the dead person found after the crash.
Trooper stop turned into gunfire before the chase reached I-35
Valley View police said the incident escalated when a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper attempted to pull the suspect over. Instead of stopping, the driver fired at troopers and fled, setting off the high-speed pursuit that moved through the Interstate 35 corridor…