An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer and his front-seat passenger were killed in a car crash early Saturday after a drunk driving suspect sped through a red light in the Northridge neighborhood and slammed into their vehicle, authorities said.
Officer Darrell Cunningham Shamily, a four-year veteran of the department in his early 30s, and the unidentified passenger were killed in the crash that occurred about 1:15 a.m. An off-duty San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, who was riding in the backseat of Cunningham Shamily’s car, was also injured and transported to a hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.
“These were all individuals who were known to each other as lifelong friends,” said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, who called the incident an act of “senseless violence” by the driver of the other vehicle. He said the department would do everything possible to support Cunningham Shamily’s “fiancée, two young boys, mom & two brothers.”
Brian David Oliveri, 20, the driver of the other vehicle, was injured in the crash and was transported to a hospital, police said. Based on preliminary evidence, it is suspected that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, police said.
