TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a Bell County, Texas, deputy sheriff was killed early Sunday when he was struck by a vehicle while helping a neighboring county’s sheriffs department try to stop another vehicle it had pursued into Bell County on Interstate 35.
Deputy John Andrew Rhoden, 31, was killed when he was struck about 1:45 a.m. Sunday in Temple, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of Dallas, said Bell County Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Reinhard.
Reinhard said Rhoden was assisting Williamson County deputies who were pursuing a vehicle on the interstate when he was struck.
Reinhard said the vehicle that struck Rhoden is not the vehicle that was being pursued, but declined further comment and referred questions to Temple police, who are handling the investigation.
Police in Temple did not immediately return phone calls for comment.