That ran through our driver's license slash highway patrol office,
which is directly across the street from here.
Yes, ma'am.
So we had,
we had an 18 wheeler that ran into through our
driver's license office that's directly across the street from here.
What we know is that we had several people injured as a result of this accident.
As a result of this incident,
the driver was being followed, he had stolen 18 wheeler earlier.
Justin's going to get into all that. So I won't get into those details.
He was
being chased by a deputy and he into our building.
We have several people that were injured and one is deceased at this time.
Again, Justin will get into all those. This is a tragic day for us,
tragic day, my heart,
my heart and prayers go out to the family members of
those that are injured as well as those that are in.
We have multiple agencies that are here that are assisting
to include Washington County Brenham PD,
the FBI, as well as all the resources that we have with the Texas DPS.
So we have the Texas Rangers,
the Texas highway patrol and the criminal investigation division.
I'll step back and let Justin uh Sergeant Rees come up and give you guys the details.
Thank you all for being here. We really, really, really appreciate you all.
Good afternoon, everybody.
This is a sad day for DPS and for all the people that were involved,
all the customers that we had in our building today
for today's incident.
Washington County sheriff's deputy
and other law enforcement
were behind this 18 wheeler.
It was reported stolen
when they saw the vehicle. It was on state highway 36.
Over here on this side of the 290 by the mcdonald's,
the driver fled from law enforcement
and came here
on 290 going westbound,
took the
feeder loop under 290. The main highway
and went
east
back on 290 fee or
the stolen
18 Wheeler
took a hard right turn
and went into the DPS Brenham office.
The suspect is Leonard Parker
who is 42
from Chapel Hill.
Parker was taken into custody
and taken to the Washington County Sheriff's Department.
Parker was taken.
Parker did come to the DPS Brenham office yesterday at approximately three or 4 p.m.
where he was denied his commercial driver license.
He then
while he was there, the driver's license staff advised Parker
that he was not eligible to
renew his commercial driver's license.
Two people were flown
to C
ST Joseph's and Brian.
One person was flown to Memorial Herman Hospital in Houston
three were transported to Scott and White here in Brenham
and have been released
and eight were treated and released on the scene
of the incident.
Unfortunately, one person has to come to their injuries
and died at the hospital.
This is a criminal investigation that is being led by the Texas Rangers
Parker is facing multiple felony offenses
and victim support services for DPS
is on the scene at the family reunification which is at the Brennan
Police Department.
Any questions?
That's all under investigation.
His name is gonna be
Clenard Parker.
Clenard Parker
charges
that's under investigation. Can you talk to us about the deceased person?
Which hospital did he or she die
at?
You
know, the
approximate
age?
And
we,
we're not gonna release that information right now because it's still uh very fresh
and so family notification still has to be made. Was that person a state employee
that's under investigation? How many people in total were state
employees? And how
many were so
all we have right now is 14 total individuals
working.
That's all under investigation
still very active.
Can you repeat your question?
No, there was no resist.
He was taken out of the 18 wheeler and taken into custody
by several officers
that's still under investigation.
We're, we're pulling all the information that we can.
Oh, where in hell did you?
That's all going to be released through a public information request.
That's all under investigation.
No, we're still trying to get all that information. It's very fresh.
So we're still trying to get as much information as we can.
That was going to be the 14 people,
all
people who were injured,
injured and
were
all the people inside.
So the eight that I said that got checked on scene,
that was everybody that was still there that didn't want to go to the hospital.
So that's going to include all the people that were
there.
What's
that?
We're, we're, we're still trying to figure that out.
The
looks
like
it
went
into the
building.
Did
you drive
out
and grab it
back
in
the 18?
Yeah, he, he went into the vehicle or went into the building and did come back out.
What if
that is the front door where the driver's license office is out?
I'm not, I'm unsure right now. We're still trying to figure all that out
sergeant.
That's a waiting area where people who are, you know, waiting for the.
Correct.
Yeah, that's what the, the waiting area and where the driver's license, uh,
desk are at.
So were any, any offices just trying to get an idea of exactly how far into the,
the truck make
it
inside
the lobby
area?
That's all still under investigation.
There are, there are several offices behind that driver's license waiting area.
So we're still trying to figure all that out.
The suspect did not suffer any injuries.
There were
14 people just
1414 to people
checked out. One
person
deceased. Everybody else went to the
hospital, everybody went to hospital.
Yes. Ok.
And then of the 14, how many were civilians? And
we're still trying to figure all that out.
Yeah.
What's that?
Washington County Sheriff's Department? He's in jail over there.
And if he tried by himself,
that's something. We two more questions you have to
ask two more questions.
We're still trying to figure all that out. Let's
go.
The
sergeant, could
this
be
ok?
We have all assets on scene and trying to figure all that out together.
Like I said, this is still very active and ongoing
so
I can't release that information right now.
The
threat level was already at a heightened
level just in recent time.
If you
will,
can you give us a sense of where that will
be moving forward in terms of the other government offices?
And
what I can say today is that this area is safe.
We've got the suspect in custody
and we're all out here trying to get the scene
all fixed up and taken care of
now
or are you guys aware of like structurally is
to
any
questions?
So
the building is not going to be usable at this point, right.
So it's going to be shut down for a little while for all of our customers
that are in that have appointments and plan to come here for a driver's license.
Please go to our dps website to see where where, when, when you can,
where you can go to get a driver's license.
So what,
what we can tell you right now is what we've already told you.
This is a, this is an active investigation
and as soon as we know more, we will surely
share it with you. We want to be transparent with you.
And as soon as we are able to show any videos, any of those things of that nature,
we will through our public information office, you can get that information.
But as of right now, it's an active investigation.
So that's gonna be all the questions. We're gonna allow the senator to come up.
You want to come introduce
under.
Um I think he gave that to you already.
You didn't give it, give it, give it to me.
All right, Mr
Mr Parker's date of birth is going to be
July 16th,
1981
July 16th of 1981.
This is a
tragic day and it's affected a whole lot of people.
Obviously, this investigation is just in its infancy right now.
So we have a lot of questions that we're working to get answers,
which is the reason why all these resources are here.
But we're blessed to have with us, the Senator for Texas senator for this area,
Lewis co
course.
And we want to give her an opportunity to talk about this tragedy.
I first want to say
to everyone that
we need to pray for the victims.
And now that we have lost someone in this tragedy, please pray for their families.
This is a day that
you don't think is going to happen. That office right there
is something known to the mayor and I, and everyone in Brenham,
we've taken our Children to get
their driver's license there.
I've gotten my driver's license there.
It's a place of public service.
And so
what we've seen today was an act of violence.
And I want to first thank all the first responders,
the deputy sheriff that realized that was a stolen truck,
those that got on the scene quickly
to keep more damage from being done. As I understand,
I want to thank dps and all of our servants.
Today, we are reminded that those that serve in public,
it's a dangerous job.
Someone that goes to work today to issue a driver's license
can literally trigger someone
to create an act of violence like the one that we see across the street.
And so I want to thank all of our first responders that were on the scene today
helping those victims.
I want to thank all of the law enforcement
for their quick reaction
and again, pray for those victims that have been hurt
in ways. We're blessed that more weren't injured in this
act of violence.
And finally, I want to say
that
we will prosecute this person to the full extent of the law
because this will not be tolerated
not in my hometown
and not in our home state.
So again, thank you to all those that responded,
join us in prayers for the victims
and we will
be tough on this crime.
Thank you.
I,
I'd like to bring up the mayor for the city of Brenham for some remarks. Thank you.
Well, I'm not gonna repeat everything. That's
I'm sorry,
may
conjure
mayor for the city of Brenham here.
It's unfortunate that we are here gathered for a really senseless tragedy
and
we just found out or I just found out the same time you did about the deceased.
And uh that's not the kind of news we wanted to hear today.
Our prayers are with those who are still in critical care.
I want to say thanks to our first responders.
Had it not been for their quick action,
as you can see across the street,
the suspect was backing the vehicle up and with the intent
of going into it again,
our fire chief mentioned that if he had veered a little bit to the left,
the second time,
there would have been a collapse of that building which would
have resulted in a lot more injuries than possible death.
So again, thanks to our first responders, I can't say enough for them.
They put their life on the line
and again, keep your prayers for those who are
in the critical care. Now, thank you very much.
We will continue to keep everyone updated.
On our social media channels, on our Twitter and Facebook channels,
the investigators continue to work tirelessly behind us and
that will be going on for several hours.
That's all we have for right now. Thank you
DPS.
Authorities giving us an update on a major
crash in Brenham that happened this morning,
an 18 wheeler crashed into the city's DPS office.
The 18 wheeler had been reported stolen and officers were chasing it
when it took a hard right and crashed into the building.
One person was killed, 13 others injured.
Three of those people critically were flown to area hospitals,
including one of them taking
a memorial hermit dps telling us the suspect visited that same DPS
office in Brenham yesterday where he was denied a commercial driver's license.
Yes,
dps says that suspect's name is Leonard Parker. He is 42 years old and he is facing
multiple felony charges after they say he ran into that building.
The sheriff there saying that it was a criminal and intentional act
that happened there this morning by
Leonard Parker. Um They said that he was there yesterday.
You said Reka and trying to get a CD L, the commercial driver's license,
it was denied.
And this is what happened today.
Khou 11 has a crew at Parker's home in Chapel Hill right now.
We are the only crew there and we're told from our
crew at the scene that authorities are at his home.
We will
continue to follow the story as it develops.
Meantime, you can find the latest updates online on Kou 11
mobile app for now.
You're looking at his photo here,
his driver's license photo we have up on your screen that is Kard
Parker, 42 years old, suspected of running into the building
hurting multiple people killing one.
We'll have the latest coming up as well on the 411.