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Kyle Ediger
Release via York News-Times:
Two people and a York County Sheriff's Office K-9 patrol dog are dead after a high-speed chase devolved into an apparent suicide mission on Tuesday night, according to the sheriff.
The incident started as an attempted traffic stop about 6 miles northwest of York Tuesday night and culminated in the fiery crash that killed the man deputies were pursuing, as well as Kyle Ediger, a coach and math teacher at Hampton Public Schools who was sitting in his car waiting for a train to pass when caught up in the crash.
The school district announced Ediger's death in a news release Wednesday, calling it a shock to students and staff members.
The identity of the man pursued by deputies was not released.
The crash came after deputies tried to pull over a 2008 Ford F-150 that was driving erratically near Road H and Road 15, Sheriff Paul Vrbka said in a news release.
Deputies pursued the Ford for about eight minutes at speeds of over 100 mph, according to the news release, before the truck came to a stop near Road H and Road 18.
Vrbka said that when the vehicle stopped, a man got out and claimed to have a gun, concealing his hands. The sheriff said the unidentified man told officers he wanted to die.
After ignoring officer commands, the suspect advanced toward them and stole a marked patrol cruiser with the K-9 inside, driving toward York, according to the news release.
Once there, the suspect stopped the cruiser atop railroad tracks near 19th Street and Delaware Avenue before exiting and standing outside the vehicle as a train approached, Vrbka said in the news release.
As authorities approached the man, he reentered the cruiser and proceeded north onto Delaware, leaving the deputies on the south side of the tracks as the train passed between them.
Vrbka said the suspect then drove north for six blocks before turning around and accelerating toward the moving train, crashing into the back of Ediger's car that was waiting for the train to pass, pushing both cars into the locomotive.
Ediger, the suspect and the patrol dog all died instantly, according to the news release.
A Nebraska State Patrol spokesman said that agency would conduct an investigation into the incident at the request of the York County attorney. The spokesman said he expected the York County Sheriff's Office to release the name of the suspect upon notification of relatives.
