Texas Officer Stabbed Responding to Car Accident: Officials

Police tape is shown in a stock photo. The Canadian Press/Graeme Roy

A police officer in Plano, Texas, was stabbed on Thursday morning after he responded to a car accident.

Authorities said the officer arrived on the scene of the crash on Independence Parkway and Legacy Drive, KDFW reported. The officer, who was not named, tried to check on the people in the two vehicles.

The Associated Press, citing Plano Police Department spokesman David Tilley, reported that as the officer arrived, one of the drivers got a knife out of her car and began stabbing the other driver. When the officer tried to intervene the woman stabbed him in the arm and then tried to get into the passenger side of the other driver’s car, he said.

Other reports said that as the officer approached one of the vehicles, a woman got out of the driver’s seat and attacked him with a knife, stabbing him in the arm, officials said.

“One of the drivers lunged out of the vehicle and had a knife in her hand and stabbed him,” Tilley told KDFW.

The officer then retreated, noticing that the suspect was running to the other vehicle to attack the other driver. The officer then fired several shots, killing the suspect as she was stabbing the other driver, according to the report.

“It’s difficult when one of your co-workers is in the process of trying to help someone and becomes a victim. We are praying for his safe and fast recovery, hoping this will be something very minor,” said Tilley.

Police haven’t determined a motive in the attack.

“That’s going to be something we’re looking into. We want to know as far as what instigated this, was there some road rage that occurred before? Did these individuals know each other? Or was this just a somebody got upset because of a traffic crash and twisted off a little bit? That’s what we really don’t know yet,” Tilley said.

Tilley told CBS Dallas that the officer doesn’t “appear to have life-threatening injuries” after the stabbing. The other driver was stabbed several times and was hospitalized.

The victim’s condition is not known.

Later, authorities determined that the suspect was driving a stolen car, KDFW reported.

Per police protocol, the officer involved was placed administrative leave with pay while an investigation is being conducted. The incident was captured via the officer’s body camera, officials said, WFAA reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.