TikTok star Gabriel Salazar died in a car crash along with three other men following a police chase in Zavala County, Texas. Known as @gabenotbabe on TikTok and Instagram, the teen had more than three million followers between the two social media platforms. He was 19 years old.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Salazar was the driver in the incident that occurred at approximately 1:25 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26. According to the Zavala County Sheriff's Office, the accident occurred after the car did not stop for a traffic stop.
According to the sheriff's office, a deputy for the department "assisted" another officer from the Crystal City Police Department with "deploying a tire deflation device but was unsuccessful" about five minutes before the crash occurred.
The Texas Department of Public Safety told TODAY that according to their preliminary investigation, the vehicle, a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, avoided the stop but then drove off the road, over-corrected and then traveled "across the roadway" into a ditch where it "struck some trees, rolled several times and ... caught fire."
Salazar, who lived in San Antonio, Texas, was pronounced dead on the scene, as were the other three passengers.
The other passengers were later identified as Jose Luis Jimenez-Mora, 41, Jose Molina-Lara, 23, and Sergio Espinoza-Flores, 36. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, all three men were Mexican citizens. In a Facebook post, the Zavala County Sheriff's Office referred to the three men as "illegal immigrants."
A GoFundMe for Salazar's funeral expenses has already raised more than $38,000. In the post, the organizer described the teenager as someone who "loved his family and was always horsing around with (his) sister and little brother."
"I don't know what's real and what's not anymore but unfortunately Gabe (passed) away on a car crash September 26," wrote fundraiser organizer Chris Vasquez. "We couldn't believe it the moment we found out. Dont (sic) really want to get into details because it's so hard for us to even talk about the pain he went through. Never expected this to happen but now you're watching over us."
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