Mom ‘tried to kill herself and sons by driving head-on into a gas tanker – and when the truck driver attempted to dodge her, she doubled back’
- Melissa Mack, 48, is accused of planning to kill herself and sons – aged 4 and 6
- She told a friend it was ‘God’s will’ and to say goodbye as she put them in a van
- Mack drove northbound in a southbound lane on a street in Gainesville, Florida
- A tanker carrying 330 gallons of gas swerved to avoid the van but Mack did a u-turn and drove into the back
- No one was seriously injured, and Mack has been charged with premeditated attempted homicide
A Florida mother planned and tried to kill herself and her two young sons by crashing her car into a truck.
Police said Melissa Mack, 48, told a friend on Friday that she was going to crash her car on purpose, and that it was ‘God’s will’ and ‘nothing could be done’.
She also allegedly told her friend to ‘say goodbye’ to her and her sons – aged 4 and 6.
In her arrest report, police say Mack was driving on US-441/NW 13th Street in the City of Gainesville with her two children in the van with her, according to WCJB.
It also said that she started driving northbound in a southbound lane, and attempted to ram a tanker – carrying 330 gallons of gas – head-on.
Melissa Mack, 48, has been charged after trying to kill herself and her two young sons – aged 4 and 6 – by driving into the back of a truck
The incident in Gainesville, Florida happened on US441 where Mack traveled northbound in a southbound lane – although the truck driver swerved to avoid her, Mack did a U-turn and rammed into the back of the tanker
But, the truck driver, Paul Dale Hackbarth, swerved, causing Mack’s van to miss, WCJB reported.
Despite the near miss, police allege that Mack then did a U-turn, and rammed into the back end of the truck.
The impact set of the van’s airbags and the engine caught fire – trapping Mack and her young sons inside. The front and back windows of the van also shattered.
WCJB reported that the truck driver and several other bystanders helped put out the fire and helped Mack and the children out of the van.
In the arrest report, police said that the two boys were ‘very upset’ and were released to the Department of Children & Families.
Mack was charged with three counts of premeditated attempted homicide in the first degree and is being held at the Alachua County Jail on a $900,000 bond.