SAN ANTONIO (WOAI) — New developments in a police chase that ended in a deadly crash, killing 19-year-old TikTok star Gabriel Salazar of San Antonio.
The crash happened around 1:25 a.m. Sunday near La Pryor, Texas. The sheriff's office there says at the time Salazar was driving undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Those three passengers were also killed in the crash, all men ages 41, 36, and 23.
According to the Zavala County Sheriff's Office, a deputy overheard a call from the Crystal City Police Department initiating a traffic stop on the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Salazar was driving.
The police officer then told deputies he was involved in an active pursuit with the vehicle.
A sheriff's deputy assisted the officer in attempting to deploy a tire deflection device, but it was unsuccessful, the department wrote on social media.
During the chase, Salazar lost control of the car, hit several trees, rolled over and caught fire. Salazar, as well as the three other passengers, died at the scene.
The other passengers are 41-year-old Jose Luis Jimenez-Mora, 23-year-old Jose Molina-Lara, and 36-year-old Sergio Espinoza-Flores.
Salazar, who used the handle Gabenotbabe on TikTok and had more than 2 million followers. On his final Instagram post Saturday, Salazar posed beside and behind the wheel of a car.
A GoFundMe created to raise money for his funeral expenses has already raised more than $38,000 as of Friday morning.
I don’t know what’s real and not real anymore but unfortunately Gabe passed away on a car crash September 26. We couldn’t believe it the moment we found out. Don't really want to get into details because it’s so hard for us to even talk about the pain he went through. Never expected this happen but now you’re watching over us," the GoFundMe created by Chris Vasquez reads.