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Ex-Trooper Sought in Dallas Shootings Dies

Police are working to match the gun used in Brian Smith's suicide with the murder weapon.

By Rebecca Smith Hurd, Newser User

Posted Dec 25, 2008 6:39 PM CST

(Newser) – The former Utah state trooper implicated in a Dallas freeway shooting spree died in a Texas hospital last night after shooting himself during a police standoff, the AP reports. Authorities suspect that Brian Smith, 37, caused at least one of two roadside deaths Monday, but ballistics tests have yet to confirm that bullet casings from his gun match those found at one of the crime scenes.

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Police say former Utah State Trooper Brian Smith, who was sought in Texas on robbery and burglary warrants, shot himself during a standoff in the Dallas suburb of Garland on Monday. (AP Photo/KTVX ABC TV Salt Lake City)

Jorge Lopez, 20, was one of two people killed in Dallas freeway shootings on Dec. 22. Police are running tests to determine if the gun Smith used on himself is the same one used in Lopez's death. (AP Photo/Courtesy Sharon Hamilton)

William Scott Miller, 42, died during evening rush hour in Dallas on Dec. 22. A gunman in a pickup truck killed two people and injured a third in four apparently random shootings. (AP Photo/Miller Family)

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I can tell you this: There's nothing telling us so far that it's not him.
- Garland police spokesman Joe Harn

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Ex-Trooper Sought in Dallas Shootings Dies