Galveston Police Officer Kills Pedestrian in Early Morning Crash – Houston Public Media

A Galveston police officer struck and killed a pedestrian on his way to work early Friday morning, according to city and county officials on the island southeast of Houston.

The 63-year-old man who died was struck on Broadway, a multi-lane thoroughfare with an esplanade in the middle, near the intersection of 59th Street^Th According to Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset, whose law enforcement agency is investigating the crash. The sheriff said Friday afternoon he could not yet release the names of the deceased man or the Galveston Police Department officer who struck the pedestrian while driving his personal vehicle.

According to a news release from the city of Galveston, the officer was traveling east on Broadway and on his way to work at the time of the accident, which occurred just after 5 a.m. Other responding police officers found the pedestrian lying on his back in a median lane and attempted to revive the man before he was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly before 6 a.m., the city said.

Trochesset said the man who died may have been homeless. He also said the investigation was still ongoing as no criminal charges had been filed against the police officer.

“It looks like an accident,” Trochesset said.

A spokesman for the city of Galveston did not respond to emailed questions seeking to determine the police officer’s age and experience level and whether he remained on active duty Friday or pending the outcome of the investigation by the Office of the Attorney General Sheriff had been placed on leave.