An Arlington, Texas man was taken into custody after triggering an 8-car pileup and shooting, which left two motorists dead, and another injured.
The tragic chain of events started at 1:40 p.m. yesterday, when Thomas Lester Harper, 27, driving a blue Escalade collided into two cars at North Collins Street near Washington Street, according to WFAA.com.
Harper — with his toddler twins strapped into the backseat — fled the scene of the accident at a high rate of speed. Witnesses in other vehicles pursued Thomas in an attempt to get his license plate number.
“He probably was doing 100 down northbound Collins,” witness Billy Ray Vaughn told WFAA.com.
At Collins Street and Brown Boulevard, the Escalade plowed into the back of a Dodge pickup truck, killing the driver instantly. The impact triggered chain reaction crashes, resulting in a six-vehicle pileup at the intersection.
But Thomas wasn’t done yet.
Police say Thomas, who was “laughing and hollering”, drew a weapon and shot a motorist dead as the man approached the SUV. It isn’t clear if the man was one of the drivers involved in the six-car crash.
Police took Harper into custody at gunpoint and transported him to a hospital for treatment of his crash-related injuries. He was later jailed without bond and charged with murder and intoxication manslaughter.
The man’s twins were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
