What to know:
🚨 Three people were killed — OHP Trooper Vernon Brake, a woman, and a 4-year-old child — in a crash on I-35 in north Oklahoma City.
🚗 Authorities say a vehicle lost control, crossed the center barrier, and struck the trooper, after debris in the roadway caused the driver to swerve.
📞 Investigators are asking for witnesses or information — call the Oklahoma Highway Patrol tip line at 405-425-2323.
A crash on the north side of Oklahoma City along Interstate 35 on Wednesday claimed the lives of a woman, a child, and an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, OHP officials confirmed.
“It is with deep sorrow that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announces the line-of-duty death of Trooper Vernon Brake,” OHP announced on its Facebook page.
According to a Fox 25 report, the crash happened just before noon between Britton and Hefner roads. Officials indicate that debris fell from another vehicle, prompting the driver of a white SUV to swerve and hit the trooper.
Anybody who saw the crash or has information about it should call the OHP information line at 405.425.2323.
Here’s the full Facebook post from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol:
It is with deep sorrow the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announces the line of duty death of Trooper Vernon Brake.
On April 8, 2026, at 11:27 a.m., a vehicle traveling southbound on I-35 lost control for an unknown reason and crossed the center cable barrier. The vehicle struck Trooper Brake, who was traveling in the northbound lanes just south of Hefner Road in Oklahoma City.
Trooper Brake was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the other involved vehicle, along with a four-year-old passenger, were also pronounced deceased at the scene.
Trooper Brake was a graduate of the 56th OHP Academy in 2006 and has proudly served the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for nearly 20 years, with a significant amount of time assigned to Troop S (commercial motor vehicle enforcement). After his graduation from the academy, he also served in Oklahoma and Logan Counties.
Trooper Brake is survived by his wife and two children.
Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with his family as well as the family of the other driver involved.
OHP's Traffic Homicide Unit (THU) is conducting the investigation into the crash.
