2 suspects in officer assault dead after 3-hour chase by police

AUSTIN, Texas — Two men suspected of assaulting a police officer in Texas and stealing his vehicle were killed after a three-hour chase, one of them shot by police and the other found dead inside the vehicle, authorities said on Wednesday.

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday when the officer pulled over the two men in a traffic stop in the city of Italy, Texas, about 45 miles south of Dallas, authorities said. The men, reported by local media to be brothers, got out of their car, assaulted the officer and stole his vehicle, setting off the chase, they said.

Authorities pursued the men through the area for about three hours before the suspects stopped the stolen vehicle in Ellis County. Officers contacted the two men through the vehicle’s police radio and heard a gunshot within the car that apparently killed one of the men. The other man stepped out of the vehicle while displaying a firearm and was fatally shot, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Police have not released the names of the two men.

The police officer who was assaulted had non-life threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, the department said.

Separately in Houston, police fatally shot a suspect on Wednesday after a chase through city streets that came to a standoff, local media reported. Police were not immediately available for comment.