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Police Chase Man in RV With Kids Inside After Shooting

What to Know

  • Police say the driver of the RV shot a woman in Hunt County. She jumped out of the RV during the pursuit.
  • The RV, damaged by spike strips, stopped on westbound I-30 at Fielder Road in Arlington and burst into flames.
  • The driver fatally shot himself, police say. Two children were escorted from the scene and taken to a hospital.

Police say a man is dead after leading authorities on a chase through four North Texas counties in a recreational vehicle with two children inside after shooting a woman early Thursday.

Arlington police said Hunt County Sheriff’s deputies received a 911 text from 33-year-old Candie Crystal Price who said she was inside the RV and had been shot. She added that she had been kidnapped and that her two children were inside, as well.

Police pursue a recreational vehicle being driven by a man who they say shot his wife and took his children Thursday morning.

A Caddo Mills police officer spotted the RV near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1903 and Interstate 30 just before 3 a.m., according to police. Authorities said Price jumped out of the RV, which was traveling nearly 90 mph, when she saw the police car.

Price was transported to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas for treatment for gunshot wounds and injuries sustained in her jump from the vehicle. Hunt County Sheriff's deputies said she underwent surgery and remained in critical condition Thursday.

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Tony Kelly, Jr.
Police say Tony Kelly, Sr. lead police on a chase in an RV through four North Texas counties before fatally shooting himself Thursday morning.

The RV continued west on I-30 through Rockwall and Dallas counties during the next 30 minutes as multiple police departments joined the pursuit. Police said they used spike strips, damaging the RV's tires and slowing the pursuit to about 20 mph as the driver, identified as Tony Kelly Sr., approached Tarrant County.

The pursuit continued on westbound I-30 into Arlington until Kelly stopped near Cooper Street at about 4:40 a.m. Police said officers approached the RV, opened the door and let out two children described as a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old.

As officers grabbed the children, police said they reported hearing a single gunshot. The vehicle then caught fire.

Arlington Police Department spokesman Lt. Chris Cook confirmed Kelly was found deceased in the RV.

Police dash camera video shows a pursuit involving a recreational vehicle, which spanned four North Texas counties. The pursuit continued on westbound I-30 into Arlington until the RV stopped near Cooper Street, where officers approached the vehicle, opened the door and let out two children described as a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old just before it caught fire.

Officers were seen escorting the children to an ambulance and transported to Arlington Memorial Hospital. Their conditions were not released.

Hunt County Sheriff’s Office and Rockwall police are investigating the shooting of the woman, according to authorities. Arlington police are investigating Kelly's death.

In 16 years of commuting to Fort Worth, Karen Sinwald of Lone Oak says she's never seen anything like the police chase involving an RV on I-30 she saw Thursday.

All westbound lanes of I-30 were closed until about 10 a.m. Various eastbound lanes of the interstate were closed until about 7 a.m.

Karen Sinwald told NBC DFW she was driving from Greenville to her workplace in West Fort Worth when she caught up with the chase.

"I've been driving this route for 16 years and I've seen it all," she said. "I'm scared for the kids, not knowing what they went through at the beginning and to the end. They must've been terrified."

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Price's sister-in-law, Lois Woodard, said she got a text from Price at 1:17 a.m.

"Sorry to text you so late," Woodard said, reading the text. "I got shot two times in a robbery. I don't know what to say, but I love you."

Woodard said she believed Price was covering up for her on-again-off-again boyfriend. She called Price's phone at 1:27 a.m.

"She said, 'Tony don't shoot me,'" Woodard said, recalling what she heard on the other other end of the line. "And the next thing I heard, 'Pow!'"

Woodard said she called hospitals and police, not knowing what happened.

The grown children of the man who led police on a chase through several North Texas counties early Thursday say their father was not a monster, despite police saying he kidnapped and shot the mother of their two young children in front of them.

Children of RV Chase Suspect Say Father 'Snapped'

The grown children of the man who led police on a chase through several North Texas counties early Thursday say their father was not a monster, despite police saying he kidnapped a shot the mother of their two young children in front of them.

"I just miss my dad," said Olivia Kelly.

"My dad is not a monster," said her brother Tony Kelly Jr.

The siblings spoke with NBC 5, wanting to set the record straight about what they claim led to the fiery tragedy in Arlington on Thursday morning.

Tony Kelly Jr. said he was on the phone with his father as police chased after his RV.

"Of course, I was trying to talk him out of it, trying to talk him down, but at the time all I could say was I love him too, because I already know I couldn't change his mind because it had already gone too far," he said.

The Dallas County Sheriff's Office released dash camera video of the RV chase early Thursday morning through several North Texas counties.

The young man said his father's on-again-off-again girlfriend of five years, Price, showed up at his work in Garland on Wednesday evening, "picking a fight," and he said his father "snapped."

Police say Tony Kelly Sr. kidnapped the woman and their two young sons and took off in his RV.

Tony Kelly Jr. was on the phone with his father in the final seconds of the chase. Police say Tony Kelly Sr. then shot himself and his RV caught fire.

Arlington police say two young children are OK after being in an RV driven by their father in a chase through four North Texas counties Thursday morning.

The man's son said his father's last words to him were, "that he did not die May 25th, he died February 11th when she tried to kill him."

Tony Kelly Jr. claims his father was in a tumultuous relationship with Price.

On Feb. 11, 2017, Dallas police confirm Kelly filed an aggravated assault family violence report against the woman.

Arlington Police Department spokesman Lt. Chris Cook discusses an RV chase through four North Texas counties involving a man, suspected of shooting a woman, and his two children Thursday morning.

Tony Kelly Jr. and other family members claim Price tried to kill his father with pills.

"From that day forward he just wanted revenge. It was horrible. I don't know what it was," Tony Kelly Jr. said.

"Is my dad a monster? No. Was he wrong for shooting her? Yes. But, was he a monster? No. He was not a monster. He had a family that loved him. He loved his family. He loved all his kids," Tony Kelly Jr. added.

Hunt County Sheriff's deputies talk about the events that led up to a chase involving a man driving an RV with two young children inside.

NBC 5's Holley Ford contributed to this report.

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