Multiple people were reported injured on Friday after a person driving a semitrailer truck crashed into a Department of Public Safety office in Brenham, Texas, in what officials said may have been an intentional act.
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst said on social media that three people were airlifted “with critical injuries,” and three others were transported to local hospitals and were in stable condition. It was unclear how many additional injuries there were.
A suspect was taken into custody, according to the Department of Public Safety, and Texas Rangers were investigating the crash. Judge Mark Keough of Montgomery County said in a social media post that the driver had been denied a commercial driver’s license on Thursday. “He returned today with intent to harm,” Judge Keough wrote.
KHOU, a CBS affiliate, reported that Sheriff Otto Hanak of Washington County said that he believed the crash may have been an intentional act. Dade Phelan, the Texas House speaker, also said in a post on social media that the driver “intentionally caused injury to innocent Texans.” Mr. Phelan also said the truck was stolen.
Video and images of the scene showed the truck in a parking lot, and damage to a wall of the building with debris scattered on the ground.
The Department of Public Safety provides a range of services, in addition to driver’s license operations and vehicle inspection programs. Texas public safety facilities have in recent years been tasked with crime prevention along the U.S.-Mexico border, and addressing threats to public schools, gangs and sex trafficking throughout the state, according to the department’s website.
It is separate from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles which oversees, for example, vehicle registration and issuing license plates.
Brenham has a population of roughly 18,000, according to the U.S. census, and is about 75 miles northwest of Houston.
This is a developing story.
