Temple police have identified the man who died Wednesday after being struck by a vehicle on Interstate 35.
Killed was Anthony Turner Jr., 19, according to a Temple Police Department news release.
Turner died from injuries sustained after he was struck while running into traffic as he attempted to avoid pursuing officers.
Meanwhile, also on Thursday, Temple police released an updated timeline of “key events” that led to Turner’s death.
Temple Police Chief Shawn Reynolds said the goal of releasing the updated timeline was to continue his goal of being “open and transparent.”
“We will maintain communication and dialogue around this incident as the investigation continues,” Reynolds said in the release.
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Here’s the updated timeline, worded exactly as written by the Temple Police Department:
7:48 a.m. Wednesday - An officer was dispatched to the 1200 block of Allegiance Bend in reference to a suspicious person.
7:57 a.m. - The officer identified a subject matching the description provided by the caller.
8:01 a.m. - After speaking with the complainant and subject, the officer advised the subject that he was not supposed to be at that location until after 4 p.m., and the officer told him to leave. The subject then left the premises. The officer returned to their patrol vehicle and found that the subject had a warrant for his arrest.
8:02:43 a.m. - The officer drove towards the subject, who had walked several houses away. The officer told the subject that he had a warrant, and he was being detained. The officer took hold of the subject’s right arm. The officer advised dispatch that they had one detained subject and requested a second unit. The subject stated that he did not have a warrant and began to pull away. The officer told the subject to not resist. The subject pulled his arm out of the officer's grasp and fled on-foot towards a backyard in the 1200 block of Allegiance Bend. The subject then jumped over a fence and out of the officer’s sight. The officer did not pursue the subject.
A perimeter was set up by other Temple police officers. Shortly after the perimeter was set up, K-9 officers started a track from the last spot the officer saw the subject.
8:52 a.m. - A Temple police lieutenant observed a patrol vehicle with the lights on stopped in the middle of General Bruce Dr. The vehicle was identified as a Bell County Sheriff's Department vehicle. The lieutenant then saw the subject run across the road, in front of the vehicle, and toward the interstate.
8:55 a.m. - The lieutenant made contact with the subject from the overpass at Nugent Ave. and told him to get off of the interstate. Additionally, the lieutenant instructed police units to slow down all interstate traffic and block northbound traffic.
8:56 a.m. - The lieutenant reiterated his instruction for police units to slow down traffic on northbound and southbound Interstate 35 over the radio.
8:56:14 a.m. - An officer arrived at General Bruce Dr., saw the individual on the interstate and positively identified him as the subject. The officer verbally called to him, telling him to come over and get some water. The subject refused and continued running north.
8:58:35 a.m. - The subject ran on the top of the inside retaining wall on the interstate. A sergeant paralleled him with his vehicle and, over the PA system, advised him to get off the interstate. The subject was then observed running in traffic, with vehicles passing him on his left and right side. Officers advised the subject to get back to the center wall so he did not get hit by a vehicle.
8:58:55 a.m. - The officer neared the subject on the interstate. The subject ran northbound near the southbound retaining wall, and the officer directed (but did not discharge) their taser at the subject. The subject started moving westward, entering the southbound lanes of traffic, where the subject was struck by a vehicle.
The officer immediately called for Emergency Medical Services and started performing CPR on the subject.
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The investigation continues.
Anyone with information should call the Temple Police Department at (254) 298-5500 or the Texas Rangers at (254) 247-0849.
