Suspect in Dallas road shootings dies of self-inflicted shot

A former Utah state trooper suspected in several roadway shootings has died, a hospital official said.

Brian Smith died Wednesday night at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, nursing supervisor Arthur Clarke said.

Smith, 37, had been in critical condition and on life support from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police say he shot himself in the head after a brief standoff early Tuesday, more than six hours after the Dallas-area shootings.

Dallas police said Smith was probably responsible for at least one death that resulted from the shootings.

Garland police were still trying to verify that the gun Smith used on himself was the same one used in another man’s death.

Dallas police Lt. Craig Miller said authorities were working to confirm that Smith was the gunman in two shooting deaths minutes apart Monday on a Garland street and a Dallas interstate.

Earlier Wednesday, police shut down the freeway to reexamine the scene of one of the shootings.

Officials said both police departments were waiting for ballistics test results for possible matches of bullet casings.

“It’s just another thing that’s part of the investigation,” Miller said of the second freeway examination.

“It’s not a critical component. That’s what we wanted to do, just check everything we can.”

Warrants for Smith’s arrest had been issued in the Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, where authorities obtained evidence linking him to two robberies in the last eight days.

Both those incidents involved purses being stolen from women in vehicles parked at businesses near Smith’s home.

Police have tied Smith to the robberies through witness identification and video of him using a credit card belonging to one of the victims, Southlake police spokesman Mike Bedrich said.

Smith moved to Keller with his wife and children last spring, months after his conduct came under scrutiny from the Utah Highway Patrol. His peace officer certification was revoked after he went on a drinking binge and threatened to kill himself.

The shooting in Garland occurred at a major intersection when a driver pulled up alongside a small Nissan and shot and killed the Nissan’s driver, 20-year-old Jorge Lopez of Rowlett, said Garland police spokesman Joe Harn.

Three semitrailer drivers were later shot at on Interstate 635.

One of them died: William Scott Miller, 42, a father of two from Frankfort, Ky. He had been on his way to catch a plane to go home to his family for the holidays.