FORT WORTH, Texas — A stolen ambulance. A 200-mile chase. A fatal shooting on a busy interstate.
What started as a theft at a Fort Worth fire station Thursday morning ended with a man dead on the upper deck of I-35 in Austin — and an entire fire department asking how this was allowed to happen.
How the ambulance was stolen
The Fort Worth Fire Department ambulance was taken from Fire Station 4 on Old Mansfield Road early Thursday morning.
Multiple agencies immediately launched a search.
By 6:30 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety troopers had spotted the stolen vehicle traveling southbound on I-35 in Williamson County — nearly 200 miles from where it was taken.
The driver refused to stop
Troopers attempted to pull the ambulance over. The driver ignored them.
He then steered the ambulance onto South U.S. 290 and began intentionally ramming other vehicles. He continued ramming cars as he drove onto the upper deck of I-35.
At that point, a DPS trooper shot the driver.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Firefighters were not hurt — but they are angry
The local firefighters union confirmed no members were injured or threatened during the incident.
But they are not letting this go quietly.
“We don’t have the facilities or the guidelines to park ambulances in most stations,” said Zac Schaffer, President of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association. “Most ambulances stay out on the apron, ready for deployment.”
Schaffer explained that ambulances are often left running to keep medicine and blood climate-controlled — making them easier targets.
A system that was never built for this
The deeper problem, Schaffer says, goes beyond one stolen vehicle.
When the city eliminated Medstar EMS and absorbed it into the fire department, it placed ambulances inside stations that were never designed for them.
“We’ve always deployed fire trucks in most stations, but not ambulances. That’s new in the last year,” he said. “We have very, very few stations where we house an ambulance inside alongside the fire truck.”
The union is now formally requesting a review of all policies around emergency vehicle security, updated procedures, and dedicated funding to fix the infrastructure gaps.
The city says it is investigating
A spokesperson for the city of Fort Worth confirmed a full investigation is underway to determine whether existing policies were followed.
The city added it is reviewing policies for overall safety and consistent compliance.
For a department already stretched thin after absorbing an entire EMS system, that answer may not be enough.
Did this story surprise you, or have you noticed emergency vehicles left unsecured in your area? Share your thoughts in the comments — this is a conversation worth having.