It was a deadly commute on northbound I-35W in Fort Worth this morning. It happened near the NE 28th St. exit shortly after 9 a.m.
"There was a motorist that ran out of gas and was waiting for someone to bring him some, and he was waiting on the median shoulder," Fort Worth PD Officer Brad Perez said.
The accident happened as they were putting gas in the vehicle along the median shoulder.
"There was another vehicle on the freeway that was behind a semi-trailer," Perez said. "And for some reason, that driver attempted to avoid hitting the semi from behind and pulled into the medium shoulder and unfortunately struck both of these pedestrians."
Sunny Johnson, 47, of Grand Prairie was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson's friend is hospitalized in critical condition.
At this point, it's unclear whether Johnson was the driver who ran out of gas or the friend who drove there to help him.
The driver of the vehicle that hit the two was also taken to a hospital.
Perez says the investigation is ongoing, and it's too early to tell whether that driver will face any charges.
Matt Zavadsky with MedStar said if you find yourself in a similar situation, your best bet is to call law enforcement, and they will dispatch people who are trained to work on busy highways.
"The vehicles have flashing lights and markers to block off lanes to make it safe to do a repair, whether it's changing the tire or adding fuel [or] whatever, to get you off the highway," Zavadsky said.
And whatever you do, until they arrive, do not exit your vehicle.
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