SAN DIEGO—Members of the community are mourning the loss of two San Diego Police detectives who were killed in a wrong-way crash.
A memorial of flowers, candles, and signs was set up Saturday outside of San Diego Police headquarters for late detectives Ryan Park and Jamie Huntley-Park.
“Very devastating to hear,” said neighbor Daniel Garcia. “I mean walking by we don’t normally notice the monument that they created so definitely caught our eyes today. Horrible to hear that that’s how it went.”
Police say a wrong-way driver hit the couple head-on early Friday morning on Interstate 5 near Dairy Mart Road in San Ysidro. The driver who hit the detectives’ car also died.
“For something so…could’ve been easily avoided,” said Garcia. “It’s horrible how quick it happened”.
Garcia lives near the police station and was moved that the community is showing support for the fallen officers.
“Especially in these times cops are getting a bad rap but they’re not all bad and it’s good to see that especially here in San Diego we’re here for the cops,” said Garcia.
Garcia said the detectives’ deaths are a huge loss for the community.
“Especially with how young they are,” said Garcia. “I mean I’ve had deaths in my life with friends and family but something so careless like that it does definitely hit home because it literally can happen to anyone.”