Ex-UHP trooper dies in Texas hospital

An ex-Utah Highway Patrol trooper died in a Texas hospital Wednesday as police there continued to seek evidence to link him to a series of highway shootings.

Brian Smith was taken off life support and died about 6 p.m., said Garland police officer Joe Harn.

"We still consider Brian Smith to be a suspect in our murder," Harn said earlier in the day, when Smith was on life support.

Dallas and Garland police were having more ballistic tests performed on shell casings and the gun that was found with Smith. Those results are not expected until next week, but investigators said they are confident Smith was linked to the killings of two motorists along Dallas-area highways.

On Wednesday, Dallas police closed a chunk of Interstate 635 to investigate the shootings.

"We were seeing if we could locate any additional evidence," Dallas Police Sgt. Gil Cerda said.

Smith, 37, was wanted on warrants for burglary and robbery and was also believed to be behind an OxyContin robbery in Garland on Monday night.

"We had a robbery of a pharmacy at a Kroger grocery store of OxyContin and he is a suspect in that," Harn said.

Hours later, Smith shot himself during a standoff with Garland police.

Two men were killed in the freeway shootings. Jorge Lopez, 20, was killed when a driver pulled alongside Lopez's Nissan at a red light and opened fire. Shots were fired a few minutes later at an 18-wheeler, but the driver there wasn't hurt.

Minutes later, William Scott Miller, 42, was shot and killed while driving a United Van Lines semitrailer. A few minutes after that, another driver was shot at and wounded.

The rush-hour rampage sparked fear in Dallas and police moved quickly to link Smith to the slayings to ease public concern.

"We have a lot of concern and a lot of people are scared here in Dallas because of the shootings," Miller said. "We felt we brought some closure in this."