Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

DALLAS (AP / CBS 11 NEWS) ― Dallas police say the man involved in a standoff in Garland Monday night is their main suspect for three apparently random shootings during rush hour on Dallas roads.

One person died as the result of one of those shootings. Police have not yet said if the suspect is connected to another deadly shooting in Garland. The incidents happened within minutes of each other.

Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department, said 37-year-old Brian Smith held officers at bay for several hours Monday night.  Smith, who was wanted on robbery and burglary charges in Keller, was sitting in a dark-colored Honda CRV at State Highway 66 and Commerce Street when Garland officers found him at about 9 p.m.

Harn said after about three hours, Smith apparently shot himself.  He's in critical condition at Parkland Hospital.

Garland police also say they believe Smith is also connected to a robbery at a local grocery store where he stole large amounts of oxycontin.

Smith was connected to the Dallas-area shootings through ballistic tests, police say.

"At this time we don't feel there is a threat, and people don't need to be concerned about being on the freeways," said Dallas Police Lt. Craig Miller. "It is safe to be out and about doing your Christmas shopping."

The first shooting happened when a pickup truck's driver pulled up alongside a small Nissan stopped at a red light and began shooting, Harn said. The Nissan's driver, 20-year-old Jorge Lopez of Rowlett, was killed

Witnesses told police the pickup then drove off toward Interstate 635 in Dallas, where shots were fired at an 18-wheeler a short time later. The driver of the 18-wheeler, identified by police as Kenneth Black Harly, was not hurt.

A short time later on I-635 someone shot and killed 42-year-old William Scott Miller, the driver of a United Van Lines rig, Lt. Miller said. Police said the driver, who was about to fly home to his wife and children in Frankfort, Ky., for the holidays, was able to bring his truck safely to a stop before he died.

"The act he did in and of itself I consider to be heroic," Lt. Miller said. "Despite being mortally wounded, he was able to control his rig to the point where other drivers weren't injured."

Another half-mile west on the interstate, someone fired at another semitrailer. The driver, 46-year-old Gary Roberts, was injured by debris and glass but not struck by any bullets. His right eye was hit by shattered glass and he needed several stitches in his fingers, said Bedford Wilhite, who works with Roberts at Dugan Truck Line.

Roberts was treated and released at a hospital and is home recuperating, Wilhite said. Roberts, who has worked for Dugan for about a year, told Wilhite he is "much blessed and thankful to be alive."

"It's just absolutely stunning to me that something like this would happen," Wilhite said. "This is our way of surviving in this country -- truckers hauling goods up and down the highways. Why would someone want to take potshots like this at our drivers?"

While he was being shot at, Roberts radioed his employer to tell them what was happening. Jesse Medford, a Dugan terminal manager, told CBS 11 News that Roberts said he thought he had been shot.

After telling Roberts to pull over, Medford said, he called 911. Roberts told him that he did not know who was shooting and could not give a detailed description of the assailant.

After the shootings, rush-hour traffic slowed along the highway as police shut down all westbound lanes of 635 east of the shooting scenes for several hours.

Stay with CBS11TV.com for the latest on this developing story.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)