Mother and son died when Missouri City police officer rammed the side of their car while searching for a robbery, police said

MISSOURI CITY, Texas (KTRK) – A mother and her son were killed when their car was struck by a Missouri City police officer responding to a robbery Thursday night, police said.

The victim’s family told us it was their son’s 16th birthday.

The accident occurred around 8:40 p.m. on Cartwright Road off the Texas Parkway.

According to police, the officer was responding to reports of an ATM robbery when he sideswiped the victims’ car as they were pulling out of a Dollar Tree parking lot.

Witnesses described the scene, saying they heard a loud noise and then saw the patrol car crush the other vehicle and catch fire.

The identities of the victims were not disclosed.

Hours after the accident occurred, a person was found in the back seat of the police car, authorities told ABC13.

The video shows rescue workers desperately pulling him out of the patrol car to help him.

However, police could not find an explanation for why the person was in the back seat of the patrol car or why it took so long for the person to be discovered there.

“That really hit me. Three and a half hours later, they just found him now? That means they didn’t check to see if anyone was in the car,” said witness Kenneth Mitchell, who told ABC13 he was at Dollar Tree when the accident happened.

The condition of the officer and the person in the back seat of the patrol car was initially unknown.

ABC13 is also trying to find out what happened to the suspected ATM robber.

Missouri City police said the officer has been with the department for just under a year. He came to Missouri City from a previous agency where he had about two years of experience.

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