Austin Cooley

Austin Cooley, a 26-year-old Kaufman police officer and deputy fire chief for South Hunt County Fire-Rescue, tragically lost his life in a wrong-way crash on Texas 34 near Greenville, Texas, on Monday, December 8, 2025.

At around 8:30 AM, Cooley was driving home from a night shift on SH 34 near Greenville when his Honda Accord crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Dodge pickup truck. First responders from his own fire department arrived at the scene, later realizing they were responding to one of their own after recognizing Cooley’s name tag and patch. Investigators later noted that Cooley “may have been fatigued due to consecutive work days and long shift hours.”

Cooley was also a new father to a three-month-old baby girl