Excessive Speed Blamed In Murrieta Tesla Crash That Killed 3: PD

MURRIETA, CA — A fiery weekend Tesla crash that killed three and severely injured another in the parking lot of Alta Murrieta Elementary School was likely the result of speeding and loss of control, police announced Monday.

The single-vehicle wreck occurred just after 11 p.m. Saturday at 39475 Whitewood Road, according to the Murrieta Police Department.

A preliminary investigation suggests "excessive speed was a collision factor," the department said.

When officers arrived at the scene, the white Tesla sedan was engulfed in flames. One occupant was found outside the vehicle with severe injuries, and three people inside the car were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the agency.

Several bystanders stopped at the crash scene and found the surviving victim in the parking lot and rendered life-saving aid, the police department said. An update on the survivor was unavailable Monday.

The Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's Bureau has not definitively identified the deceased.

Although toxicology results were still pending, the Murrieta Police Department said the scope of the crash investigation is no longer focused "on criminal culpability."

The driver was believed to be among the dead, according to police.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Traffic Investigator Kurt Stickelman at 951-461-6306 or kstickelman@murrietaca.gov or Traffic Bureau Sgt. Steve Whiddon at 951-461-6323 or swhiddon@murrietaca.gov.

Saturday's fatal wreck follows a June crackdown by Murrieta police along Whitewood Road. The police department initiated the enforcement operation following a series of fatal and serious injury crashes on the busy Murrieta corridor. Read more: After 2 Fatal Crashes, Injuries, Murrieta's Whitewood Road Under Watch