EL CAJON, Calif. — The driver killed in a violent overnight crash in El Cajon and two of their badly injured passengers were students at East County high schools, a district spokesperson said Saturday.
The group’s black Honda Civic was going eastbound on Navajo Road near Fletcher Parkway “at a high rate of speed” when the driver lost control and hit a traffic light pole around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to El Cajon Police Lt. Darrin Forster.
First responders freed three passengers who were trapped in the mangled wreck and rushed them to the hospital with serious injuries, Forster said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a statement, Grossmont Union High School District confirmed the driver was a 12th grader and two of the injured passengers are 11th graders at Grossmont High. The third passenger was not a student in the district, officials said.
“Our district is working closely with the El Cajon Police Department as their investigation of the incident continues. Due to privacy, our district is unable to release further information regarding the students’ names or health conditions,” the GUHSD statement reads, in part.
“We will release more information as we are able to do so. As our school community begins to deal with this tragedy, our district will be providing additional grief support on campus at Grossmont High School and will also make it available to students throughout our close-knit GUHSD community.”
While investigators have said speed was a factor in the collision, they had not determined whether drugs or alcohol were involved as of Saturday afternoon.
El Cajon police urged anyone with any information regarding the crash to call them at 619-579-3311.