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US Park Police say three people died in one of the vehicles and one of the other two people in the second vehicle received life-threatening injuries.
WASHINGTON — Three people are dead and two others are injured after one of the cars fleeing from police crashed into another vehicle Wednesday, closing Rock Creek Parkway for a portion of the morning commute.
Rock Creek Parkway is closed in the area of P Street Northwest. Drivers on the northbound traffic are being diverted to Virginia Avenue, while southbound traffic is being diverted to Shoreham Hill towards Calvert Street Northwest, officials said. The entrance at Massachusetts Avenue is closed.
A short time before the fatal collision, an officer for U.S. Park Police tried to make a traffic stop on a vehicle on Rock Creek Parkway just south of Virginia Avenue, police said.
The vehicle sped off and the officer did not follow after the vehicle and cleared the traffic stop, according to U.S. Park Police. The officer was then given another assignment and left Rock Creek Parkway.
After leaving the scene, a call came in for a crash around 1:40 a.m. in the area of P Street in Northwest D.C. Officers found two vehicles crashed into each other and confirmed that one of the vehicles involved in the crash was the same vehicle officers tried to stop earlier in the morning.
DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services were summoned. U.S. Park Police say three people were pronounced dead in one of the vehicles, and the other two people in another car were injured.
Firefighters transported one woman with life-threatening injuries to the hospital. A second person signed a release to refuse retreatment from the DC Fire and EMS, officials said. The names and ages have not been released.
U.S. Park Police are handling the investigation into the cash. It's still not known what caused one of the drivers to flee from the police.
The police department is asking anyone who may have been in Rock Creek Parkway at the time of the crash to contact their tip line by emailing uspp_tipline@nps.gov.
This is a developing story. We are working to gather additional details. Stay with WUSA9 for the latest updates as they come in to our newsroom.
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