1 dead and 13 injured after semitrailer intentionally rams into Texas public safety office

BRENHAM, Texas —  A Texas semitrailer driver rammed a stolen 18-wheeler though the front of a public safety building where his renewal for a commercial driver’s license had been rejected, killing one person and injuring 13 others, authorities said.

The intentional crash on Friday into the single-story brick building off a highway in Brenham, a rural town outside Houston, littered debris in the parking lot and left a gaping hole in the entrance. It damaged the front of the red semitrailer, which was hauling materials on a flatbed.

After crashing into the building the first time, the driver backed up the truck with the intention of doing it again before he was detained, Brenham Mayor Atwood Kenjura said.

“It’s unfortunate that we are here gathered for a really senseless tragedy,” Kenjura said.

The driver — identified as Clenard Parker, 42 — was pulled out of the truck by authorities after smashing into the Texas Department of Public Safety office that issues driver’s licenses.

Authorities say Parker did not resist when he was taken into custody. They said he would face multiple felonies but did not specify charges.

On Thursday, Parker was told by employees at the office that he would not be eligible to renew his commercial driver’s license, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Justin Ruiz said. He did not elaborate as to why the renewal was rejected.

One employee in the building was trapped “for a period of time” after the crash but no one who worked at the driver’s license office suffered serious injuries, Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst said.

It was unclear where the person who was killed was located at the time of the crash.

Following the crash, two people were flown to a hospital in Bryan and another to Houston. Three people were transported to local hospitals and later released, and eight others were treated on the scene.

Parker, who lived in Chappell Hill about 10 miles east of the crash site, was being held in the Washington County jail in Brenham on two charges — suspicion of evading arrest causing serious bodily injury and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Parker had a lawyer or would be appointed one at a future court appearance.

Ruiz said he didn’t know if Parker had a criminal record. He said authorities were investigating whether he was armed at the time of the crash. He said they also were investigating whether his actions might be considered an act of terrorism.

“We’re trying to figure that out,” Ruiz said. He said the FBI was assisting in the investigation.

Brenham, a city of about 19,000 residents, is about 80 miles west of Houston.

Kolkhorst and Kenjura said the quick response by law enforcement helped avert a greater tragedy.

“We’re blessed more weren’t injured in this act of violence,” Kolkhorst said.

Kenjura said a Fire Department official told him that if Parker had “veered to the left” and succeeded in striking the building again, “there would have been a collapse of the building resulting in more injuries and possibly death.”

The sprawling Texas Department of Public Safety is one of the largest state law enforcement operations in the country. It includes troopers who are a central part of a massive border security operation on the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the Texas Rangers, the state’s top criminal investigators. But the department also has offices across the state that issue driver’s licenses.

The Texas Rangers were leading the investigation into the crash, Ruiz said.

Oyekanmi and Coronado write for the Associated Press.