A 22-year-old Whiteville, Tenn., woman died after she shot herself following a crash on I-55 near Barnhart on Monday night, March 21, Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Dallas Thompson said.
At about 10:20 p.m., the woman was driving a Chevrolet Spark south on the interstate when she drove off the left side of the road and struck a median and then came to rest in the southbound lanes near mile marker 185, Thompson said.
He said a St. Francois County Ambulance just happened to drive by soon after the accident happened and paramedics got out and began talking to a male passenger, 25, of Covington, Tenn., who was uninjured and standing outside the vehicle.
Thompson said the woman, who was still in the car, pulled out a pistol and shot herself in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Missouri Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control is investigating the crash and whether it was intentional.
The southbound lanes of I-55 were closed until just after 2 a.m.
The highway patrol is not releasing the names of the driver or passenger.