UPDATE: Grand Prairie police officer killed in the line of duty

Posted on by

A very sad and unfortunate update to the incident we posted earlier today.

The Grand Prairie Police Department says one of its officers was killed in the line of duty today. He was injured while on a traffic stop.

Grand Prairie police and fire crews along with TxDPS troopers responded to the scene around 10:30am this morning along northbound President George Bush Turnpike (161) near Marshall Drive.

The officer was transported to Medical City Arlington, the closest level II trauma center, but did not survive his injuries.

More details will be released soon.

The body of the fallen Grand Prairie police officer will soon be transported from Medical City Arlington to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Worth. Expect heavy police and fire presence lining the highways as this fallen hero is escorted to the facility. Please be courteous.

UPDATE

Officials with the Grand Prairie Police Department have released additional information regarding the death of one of their officers. Officer A.J. Castaneda has died after being struck by a motorist while doing traffic enforcement.

At around 10:30am, Officer Castaneda was running radar while standing outside of his vehicle along the inside shoulder of northbound President George Bush Turnpike at Dickey Road. For a reason not yet determined, the driver of a passing vehicle lost control of the vehicle and struck Officer Castaneda’s Tahoe. The officer was thrown from the elevated bridge onto the ground below.

Texas DPS is conducting the fatality accident investigation, as normal with these type of incidents on area tollways.

Officer Castaneda was 38 years old. He had worked for the Grand Prairie Police Department for 5 years and was assigned to the department’s Patrol Division. He had formerly served at the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and the US Coast Guard.

“He was a loving father of two children, a friend, a trusted colleague and an outstanding officer whose passion was providing service to the public. He was most recently featured in the news in September of 2018 when he saved a child who was choking at the Mid-Autumn Festival in Asia Times Square.

The crash is still under investigation at this time.