3 high school seniors killed in Cybertruck accident, 1 seriously injured: reports

3 high school seniors killed in Cybertruck accident, 1 seriously injured: reports

Three high school seniors were killed and one was seriously injured in a Tesla cybertruck accident near Oakland, California, the day before Thanksgiving.

On Wednesday, November 27, at 3:08 a.m. local time, Piedmont police responded after receiving an alert from an iPhone about a collision, Police Chief Jeremy Bowers confirmed in a press conference shared on Facebook.

The officer confirmed that three people were killed in the incident, which occurred at Hampton Road and King Avenue, after police arrived to find the vehicle “completely engulfed in flames.”

Bowers said one person was seriously injured in the accident and was taken to the hospital. The officer also confirmed that they arrived at the scene and found an “uninvolved party” pulling one of the occupants from the vehicle. He said it was “possible” that people “were at an event together before.”

Bowers did not confirm the names or ages of the victims. He also did not confirm the model of the car at the conference. According to ABC7 News, KRON and KTVU, all four people involved in the accident were 2023 Piedmont High School graduates while reporting that the vehicle involved in the accident was a Cybertruck.

A photo of a Piedmont Police Department car.

Piedmont Police Department Facebook


ABC7 News added that the victims were sophomores and a mother close to the victims’ families said two men and a woman were killed in the crash. A woman who knew the victims told KRON that they were home from college on vacation when the accident occurred.

At the conference, Bowers said they were investigating whether alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash.

“Speed ​​is likely a contributing factor in this collision,” he added. Bowers also said police were initially unable to extinguish the “intense” flames, but firefighters quickly got the fire under control when they arrived.

“There is no evidence that mechanical effects were the primary cause of the collision,” Bowers said, adding that the cause of the crash was under investigation.

A stock photo of a Tesla Cybertruck.

Getty


Sandy Martin, who reportedly taught the victims in middle school, told ABC7 News: “They’re smart kids, they’re good kids. They are also…kids who have been very supportive of their friends.”

“This shouldn’t happen to any child. But knowing them makes it worse,” Martin added.

The outlet reported, citing police, that the vehicle “jumped the curb, struck a concrete wall and then became wedged between the wall and a tree.”

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“This is just a tragic loss of life,” Bowers said, according to KTVU. “We do not know the cause of the collision and during the holidays our thoughts are with the families struggling with this tragedy.”

“We’re just (devastated). I know the family whose son is in the hospital right now. I know the other families,” neighbor Aileen Desoto said, according to ABC7 News.

“I know he needs surgery. He is in the recovery phase. He had some burns.

Bowers did not immediately respond when PEOPLE contacted him for further information. PEOPLE has also reached out to the Piedmont Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol for comment.

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