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Fiery crash after suspect leads cops on chase with kids in RV

Kids saved from burning RV
Children rescued as flames engulf RV after chase 01:12

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Police in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth say a suspect is dead after shooting his wife and leading police on a chase in an RV with his two kids inside. The children were safely rescued when the chase ended in a fiery crash, reports CBS DFW.

Suspect abducts wife, kids before RV chase, cops say 00:44

The incident  began around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday when officials say a woman went to her husband's workplace in Dallas, and the two began arguing. A short time later, the woman texted 911 from her RV saying she was inside the vehicle with her children and that her husband, who was driving, had shot her.

The man allegedly fled in the RV when police located him, and police gave chase. The woman was able to escape when she jumped from the moving vehicle along a highway in Hunt County. The woman had been shot two or three times, Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks tells the station.

The woman told deputies her husband was "suicidal and homicidal, so our deputies had to use extreme caution," Meeks said. The woman is being treated at a hospital.

With the two young boys still inside the RV, the chase continued, and authorities were able to spike the vehicle's tires in Rowlett. A slow-speed chase continued as the suspect again fled, driving on damaged tires. Traffic cameras showed the RV being followed by police vehicles from at least eight agencies on empty highways, until it finally came to a stop on an interstate in Arlington.

rv.jpg
The scene of a fiery crash in Arlington, Texas after a suspect led police on a chase with his two young children inside the car CBS DFW

There, the RV burst into flames. Authorities believe the tires had worn down to the rims, causing sparks to fly and ignite the vehicle. Before the vehicle became engulfed, the suspect appeared to let the children out of the RV through a door, and as officers were assisting the children, they heard a gunshot.

Flames shot high into the air, but firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. The suspect was later found dead. It's not clear whether he took his own life or died in the fire.

Officers reportedly did not open fire during the incident.

Video showed the two children being safely placed into the back of an ambulance. They were not injured, but were transported to Arlington Memorial Hospital as a precaution, the station reports.

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