KILLEEN (KCEN)- A motorcycle race ends in tragedy as a soldier loses his life while running from Killeen police.
A second motorcyclist was arrested, two uninvolved people were injured and a third biker is still on the run.
Devastation is what is left after a motorcycle on the run crashed into a Pontiac on Clear Creek Road.
It happened after officers spotted three bikers around 1 a.m. Tuesday, two of the bikers racing at high speeds.
"They did get one of the motorcycle's stopped. Another fled the scene and a third one the officers went into pursuit of," Carroll Smith of Killeen Police Department said.
During the chase the motorcyclist hit the car as it left McDonalds, injuring the driver and passenger.
The biker, a 31-year-old Sharod Ahkeim Carroll,a Fort Hood solider, died on impact and was wearing a helmet.
"I'd say 65 percent of our clientele is from Fort Hood," Mike Kiger of Harley Davidson in Killeen said.
Kiger works at Harley Davidson and has been riding for more than 50 years. He works with soldiers and new riders to try to avoid these tragic accidents.
"We try to make sure they understand racing's not a concept we like to produce," Kiger said.
Traffic fatalities really hit home on post, this was the seventh soldier to die already this year.
There were only eight fatalities in all of 2010.
"It is an area of concern for the safety staff and the commander," Garrison Safety manager Scott Spencer said.
Back in November we sat in on a mandatory safety class, where soldiers who go through so much overseas learn how to stay alive once they make it home.
"It really hits home when they serve a tour in combat and they come back, they're with their loved ones, and they lose their lives needlessly," Spencer said.
The signs outside of the major gates on post are flashing red Tuesday, to alert everyone of what happened, that a soldier lost his life in the accident.
"Last night Fort Hood lost one of its own to a tragic and avoidable motorcycle accident. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they deal with this loss. Our command remains focused on engaged leadership ensuring that all motorcycle mentorship programs are robust and provide face to face counseling for unit motorcycle operators. Soldiers are required to pass several courses on motorcycle safety and practice safe driving techniques both on and off post. The actions of each of us can have tragic consequences and this incident unfortunately ended in the tragic death of a Soldier who fled from authorities who had attempted to stop him
for speeding," LTG Don Campbell Jr., of Fort Hood and III Corps said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
