Texas officer killed by passing car while providing backup in DWI investigation

A police officer in Carrollton, Texas, about 20 miles north of Dallas, died Tuesday night after his squad car was hit by a passing vehicle while he was helping another officer in a driving while intoxicated investigation.

The Carrollton Police Department announced early Wednesday, “We lost a beloved officer in the line of duty overnight."

Officer Steve Nothem was “backing up” another officer in a highway DWI investigation in the westbound lanes of the President George Bush Turnpike “when he was hit by a passing driver,” just before 10:30 p.m., police said.

Nothem was in his vehicle when it was struck, police said.

The driver who hit him, identified as 82-year-old Phillip Parker of Carrollton, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nothem was transported to a hospital where he was also pronounced dead, police said.

Carrollton police said fellow officers arrived to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano to escort the fallen officer's body to the Collin County Medical Examiner’s Office Wednesday morning.

Nothem leaves behind his wife and four children: a 13-year-old son, twin 6-year-old sons and a 1-year-old daughter.

He joined the police department in March 2020 after serving the Grand Chute, Wisconsin, Police Department for four years. He previously served in the Marine Corps.

Carrollton police said Nothem’s death is the first line of duty death for the department.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com