One person was killed and another is in critical condition following a multi-vehicle crash at the corner of Harding Way and Wilson Way in Stockton.
The collision prompted a major emergency response and snarled traffic on Monday evening.
Four vehicles, including a flipped SUV, and a mangled motorcycle sat in the middle of Wilson Way near the intersection just before 6:40 p.m. as dozens of onlookers watched police, fire and medical crews assess the scene.
“The adult motorcyclist succumbed to his injuries at the scene,” Stockton police spokesperson Omer Edhah told Stocktonia in a statement, adding that “(an) adult female occupant of one of the vehicles is in critical condition but stable.”
Occupants of other vehicles involved in the crash also received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.
About half dozen police vehicles and multiple fire and medical units responded to a roadway strewn with vehicle debris, including a nearly-unrecognizable red motorcycle, just before 6:30 p.m. Three sedans, two silver and one red, also appeared to have damage to their front ends, while what appeared to be a red Jeep was flipped upside down in the southbound lane of Wilson Way.
Around 6 p.m., “I just heard the boom and came out and seen this,” said Yumika Wilburn, whose home is two doors down from the intersection.
She said cars speeding through the area, both on Harding and Wilson, is a huge problem. “You can just hear them flying up and down the street.”
In the past, Wilburn said that a family member’s car was even totaled while parked in front of her house on Harding.
It was unclear from talking to witnesses shortly after Monday’s collision how the crash occurred or exactly how many people may have been injured.
However, a Stocktonia reporter saw what appeared to be one body lying in the roadway under a yellow sheet in the right-most northbound lane of Wilson Way, while witnesses described multiple victims with injuries being taken away by ambulance.
Police shut down the intersection at Wilson and Harding in both directions, and about a block or so on either side by 7 p.m. Edhah said that traffic officers have assumed the investigation.
“Primary collision factor is still being investigated,” he said. “This remains an ongoing investigation.”