One person is dead after a single-vehicle crash near the El Paso Zoo late Thursday night, according to the El Paso Police Department. The crash happened at 4010 E. Paisano Drive, with the call coming in at 9:30 p.m.
Police said one person died in the crash, which they described as a single-vehicle collision, according to KTSM 9 News. The department's Special Traffic Investigation Unit was called to the scene to take over the investigation.
A Familiar Stretch of Road Near the Zoo
This isn't the first time a vehicle crash has drawn attention to the stretch of roadway near the El Paso Zoo. Back in June, emergency crews responded to a crash after a driver hit the structure of a Sun Metro bus stop and then drove into the El Paso Zoo fence, per the station's report. In that incident, one person was taken from the scene with non-life-threatening injuries, and the report did not state the cause of the crash.
A separate account of that June crash noted that the driver lost control, hit the bus-stop structure, and then crashed into the fence surrounding the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens, according to KVIA. That report said one person suffered a minor injury and was taken to a hospital.
Earlier Crash at Nearby Intersection
Years earlier, in January 2022, a vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of Paisano Drive and Gateway North, also near the zoo, around 7 p.m., as reported by KFOX14. El Paso police and fire officials responded to that crash, where a black pickup truck at the scene showed damage to its bumper and hood before a tow vehicle arrived. The cause of that 2022 crash, and whether anyone was injured, was not known at the time.
No further details about Thursday night's fatal crash, including the cause or the identity of the person who died, have been released. The El Paso Police Department's Special Traffic Investigation Unit remains involved in the case as it continues its work at the scene.
