By Ken Stickney

Ken.stickney@panews.com

The driver of a speeding car crossed Highway 69 at 39^th Street in Port Arthur late Thursday morning, causing a five-vehicle accident and creating mayhem at the busy intersection.

The driver, whose identify was not released by police by early Thursday evening, died from an apparent gunshot wound sustained before the wreck.

Police investigators remained at the scene into the evening, diverting traffic away from the normally busy southbound lanes by Memorial Baptist Church.

City spokeswoman Risa Carpenter said police were called to the wreck scene at 11:32 a.m., where distressed motorists were outside of their wrecked vehicles and and a passenger in the shooting victim’s car, apparently trapped inside, screamed for help. A motorist from a nearby vehicle said someone in the car had been shot.

The deadly scenario apparently began minutes before, when the driver of the white, southbound car was shot at or near 6900 Memorial, police believe.

Other motorists saw the driver of a white, southbound vehicle speed through a three-way stop sign near the Medical Center of Southeast Texas, gain access to Highway 69 and drive in an erratic manner just prior to the wreck.

Seven people at the collision site were transported to area hospitals, and police, who were investigating, closed the southbound lanes of Memorial, a process which took most or all of the afternoon.

Carpenter said investigators apparently completed their work in the area of the suspected shooting scene earlier in the afternoon.

Carpenter said the wreck scene occurred at a “major thoroughfare.”

“Definitely, impacts were felt,” she said.

Police later responded to a shooting in the 2800 block of 24^th Street on Thursday afternoon, but were unsure if that shooting was related.