A second officer who was present at the accident scene verified to ABC13 on Wednesday morning that an officer from Houston Police Department is currently fighting for his life after an approaching train collided with his personal vehicle in north Houston.
Critical Condition After Train Crash
According to Troy Finner, the Chief of the Houston Police Department, the injured officer has been identified as Vidal Lopez, who is 42 years old and has been with the department for almost 19 years.
As reported by ABC13, The collision took place shortly before 7 a.m. at the intersection of Bennington Street and the 6700 block of Fulton Street. The department sent out a tweet stating that the officer, who was off-duty at the time, was currently traveling to his work.
It also revealed that Lopez allegedly attempted to evade the train by moving around the railroad arms in an effort to take a different route, but he was still struck by the train. The information was obtained by another officer who was present at the site.
It appears that he experienced a heart attack, and he is currently in critical condition at the Memorial Hermann Hospital. A photograph taken at the scene showed the vehicle driven by the injured cop turned on its side and overturned.
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Expecting First Baby
Chief Troy Finner stated that it was a challenging day for the whole HPD. Even more than that, he urged everyone to pray for Lopez and his loved ones.
Finner disclosed that Lopez informed him of the good news over the phone on Monday and greeted him with the words, “God is good. We’re having a baby,’ according to Fox News.
Meanwhile, workers from BNSF Railway have spent hours testing the railroad crossing arms, including analyzing the one that was broken to the ground in the accident, as investigators attempt to determine what led to the tragic event.
According to BNSF, the gates and lights appeared to be functioning normally at this point in time.
