Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — Two San Diego police officers were among three people killed Friday after their car was struck by a driver going the wrong way on an interstate highway, authorities said.
The officers were in a blue city-owned Ford Fusion sedan when they were hit by a white Honda Civic going at a high rate of speed in the wrong way down Interstate 5 near the U.S.-Mexico border south of downtown San Diego, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The female driver of the Civic was also killed after her car slammed into the officers’ sedan and burst into flames.
“It is with heavy hearts that we mourn our two San Diego Police Department officers whose lives were tragically taken this morning,” Mayor Todd Gloria said.
The names of the officers and driver have not been released. The police department said they were still notifying family members.
“In the coming days, we will learn more about these public servants who proudly donned the badge to keep all of us safe and we will honor them for their service,” Gloria said. “I ask San Diegans to keep the officers and their families in your prayers.”
Police were still investigating what happened and whether drugs or alcohol were a factor. It’s also unknown if the officers were on duty at the time or reporting for work.
San Diego police Chief David Nisleit personally went to the crash scene, according to the newspaper.
A few hours after the crash, a procession of more than a dozen motorcycle officers led a coroner’s van away from the site.
All lanes were closed hours after the crash.
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