Four north suburban teenagers – two males and two females – were killed early Sunday morning when the pickup truck they were driving in flew off a Cicero Avenue overpass on the border of Bedford Park and Chicago’s West Lawn community and crashed into a railroad box car.
The victims have been identified as Yuaren Garcia-Penia, 18, of Woodstock; Yaritza Martinez-Villeda, 17, of Crystal Lake; Christopher Lopez-Montan, 19, of Woodstock and Vanessa Morales, 14, of Palatine.
According to authorities, the incident started earlier in the morning when Chicago police were told someone pointed a gun at them from a car.
Officers later found a vehicle matching a description of the suspect vehicle and tried to stop it, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The driver fled from officers and police began a high-speed chase but quickly ended it.
Illinois State Police later saw the same vehicle and tried to stop it in the 5500 block of South Cicero Avenue. The driver initially stopped but then fled southbound from the trooper.
State police radioed that the vehicle was fleeing again and Chicago Police joined the pursuit.
The vehicle was reportedly driving at a high rate of speed when it flew off the overpass and crashed into a box car in the railyard below in the 6900 block of South Cicero Avenue at 2:16 a.m.
Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A fourth victim in the pickup died after she was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition.
An investigation remains underway into the incident.