RAMONA, Calif. -- An El Cajon man was behind bars Wednesday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving in connection with a North County traffic accident that killed two people and injured a third.

Shannon Kelly Shimp, 35, was eastbound on State Route 78, east of Magnolia Avenue in Ramona, when the 1998 Chevrolet flatbed truck he was driving veered into a westbound lane and smashed into an oncoming 1996 Lexus ES300 about 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash fatally injured the driver of the sedan, 19-year-old Ian Kinney of Julian, and Shimp's passenger, Ramona resident Joseph Warren Edwards, 52, the county Medical Examiner's Office reported. Both died at the scene.

An 18-year-old Vista woman who had been riding in the Lexus was airlifted to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido for treatment of moderately serious injuries, according to the CHP.

Medics took Shimp to the same hospital, where he was evaluated and released before being booked into county jail.

Witnesses reported that Shimp appeared to be trying to pass a vehicle in an unsafe manner when the collision occurred, according to the Highway Patrol.