Gabriel Salazar, a 19-year-old TikTok star with more than 2.2 million followers, has passed away in a fatal car crash. According to multiple news outlets, the popular social media star was among four people who were killed following a fiery police pursuit.
Salazar was reportedly driving his white Chevy Camaro in Zavala County on Sunday (Sept. 26) when a cop attempted to pull him over for unspecified reasons. Shortly after, the officer claimed he was chasing the car and was joined by a deputy who unsuccessfully aimed to bring the teen’s car to a stop with a tire-deflation device.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Salazar’s “Chevrolet Camaro drove off the road, over-corrected and traveled across the roadway, onto the west barrow ditch.”
It eventually “struck some trees” and “rolled several times” before catching on fire.
Salazar passed away as a result of the incident alongside passengers Jose Luis Jimenez-Mora, Jose Molina-Lara and Sergio Espinoza-Flores, who were all undocumented immigrants from Mexico.
In the wake of the 19-year-old’s death, his family asked his followers to help in raising money that will cover the cost of his funeral. “I don’t know what’s real and not real anymore, but unfortunately, Gabe pas[sed] away on a car crash September 26. We couldn’t believe it the moment we found out,” wrote Chris Vasquez, the organizer of the recently-launched GoFundMe.
“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…”
“Words cannot express the heartbreak our entire community is feeling from the loss of our Gabriel,” Vasquez continued. ”Your family and friends miss you.” As of this story, the GoFundMe has raised more than $38,000. An investigation into the incident remains active.
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