Two people are dead following a police chase with a wrong-way driver in Fort Worth Friday morning, authorities say.[[503892471,R]]
According to police, officers near downtown Fort Worth spotted a woman driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 30 before 3:30 a.m.
A police spokesman said officers at one point deployed spike strips in an attempt to stop the vehicle.
Pursuing vehicles drove alongside the car on westbound I-30, blaring lights and sirens. The spokesman said for safety reasons, pursuing officers did not follow the woman as she drove the wrong way in the eastbound lanes.
The woman continued driving for about nine minutes until she crashed head-on into a vehicle near Interstate Loop 820, police said. The impact killed the woman and the driver she crashed into, a man police believed may have been driving without his headlights turned on.
Friday afternoon the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as 28-year-old Vanessa Matlock, of Fort Worth. The man killed in the crash will be identified pending notification of next of kin.
Eastbound traffic was diverted onto the service road at Longview Avenue. All lanes were reopened at about 7 a.m.
NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.
