Five teenagers were killed and a 24-year-old man was critically injured early Sunday morning when the vehicle they were in crashed into a traffic signal in Santa Maria, according to police. The Santa Maria Police Department responded to the intersection of Broadway and Miller Street around 1:40 a.m.
and found a vehicle that had struck a traffic signal. Four occupants died at the scene, and a fifth died later at a hospital.
The victims were identified as Isabella Star Vigil, 16; Nicolas Munoz-Gautreaux, 17; Jennifer Gutierrez, 19; Guendi Beatrice Gamez Escalante, 16; and Yusbeli Diaz Galvez, 17. The sixth occupant, Aurelio Calixto Matias, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Preliminary evidence suggests the vehicle may have been speeding and that alcohol may have been a contributing factor, police said in a news release. The investigation is ongoing, and no final determination has been made.
The police department described the crash as "a devastating tragedy that has deeply impacted the families of those involved and the Santa Maria community as a whole." The loss of so many young lives is difficult to comprehend, and our hearts go out to the victims' families, friends, classmates, loved ones, and all those affected by this heartbreaking event, police wrote. The crash occurred in Santa Maria, a city in Santa Barbara County, California.