Police said a Jeep struck one vehicle before continuing against traffic and colliding head-on with a sedan carrying four people.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Three people were killed and two others were hospitalized early Tuesday after a wrong-way driver traveled against traffic on State Highway 121 and struck two vehicles, including a sedan in a head-on collision, Fort Worth police said.
The crash happened shortly after 1:20 a.m. Aug. 18 on Airport Freeway near North Riverside Drive. Police said an adult driving a Jeep was headed east in the highway’s westbound lanes when the vehicle first struck another car and then continued toward oncoming traffic.
Investigators said the first vehicle carried three people. Its driver tried to move out of the Jeep’s path, but the Jeep struck the rear driver’s side of the vehicle. Police said none of the three people in that vehicle suffered major injuries.
The Jeep continued traveling east in the westbound lanes before crashing head-on into a four-door sedan carrying three adults and a child, according to police. The Jeep driver died at the scene.
Two adult women riding in the sedan also died at the scene, police said. One was in the front passenger seat and the other was riding in the back seat. Authorities had not publicly identified the three people who died as of Wednesday morning.
The sedan’s adult male driver and a child passenger, believed to be about 10 or 11 years old, were taken to local hospitals. Police said both were expected to survive. No further information about their conditions was immediately released.
The series of impacts left investigators with a crash scene involving three vehicles and prompted authorities to close westbound lanes of State Highway 121 for several hours. The closure affected the morning commute before the roadway reopened later Tuesday morning.
The Fort Worth Police Department’s Traffic Investigation Unit was gathering evidence and working to reconstruct the sequence of events. Police have not released information explaining why the Jeep entered the highway in the wrong direction, and no cause for the wrong-way driving has been announced.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office is responsible for formally identifying the people who died. Police said the names would be released after identification and notification of relatives.
Investigators are seeking additional information and video that could help establish what happened before and during the crash. The investigation remained underway Wednesday.
Author note: Last updated August 19, 2026.