SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered the Capitol's flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of two San Diego Police detectives killed in a wrong-way crash last week.
"Jennifer and I are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of Detective Park and Detective Huntley-Park, a young married couple dedicated to public service. Our thoughts go out to their loved ones, friends and their law enforcement family at the San Diego Police Department," Newsom said in a statement.
On June 4, Ryan Park and Jamie Huntley-Park were killed when the department vehicle they were traveling in on Interstate 5 was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver in San Ysidro. All three were killed.
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Ryan and Jamie met at the police academy in 2012 and married four years later. They were both promoted to detectives on the same day.
"In honor of Detective Park and Detective Huntley-Park, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff," Newsom's statement added.
In a statement to ABC 10News, Jamie's mother, Cherisse Huntley, said: "Jamie was an amazing woman, daughter, sister, aunt, coach, friend and wife. She was our protector, our hero, and will be missed every minute of every day. Jamie loved the community she worked for and all of her law enforcement family. Ryan was everything to Jamie, and together they were one, and we loved them."
The Park Family said in a statement:
"There is no right way to mourn and our family is at a complete loss. Ryan was a necessary lighthouse that held our family together when the winds and seas seemed nearly unbearable. As our family mourns this insufferable loss, we will continue to carry on because where there is loss, there is life, and Ryan brought so much light and life to so many. We will continue to live in a world that Ryan Anthony Park helped light and keep alive.
Ryan had a tough but joyous childhood and nothing was ever handed to him. He worked so hard for everything that he accomplished and grew to have in his life. When he was little, he loved to walk and run everywhere to clear his head. Just for fun when he and his little brother, Jesse, were younger, they would pretend to have a 'clicker' that would take them to a different time and place ... there is nothing more that we want now than to have that clicker so we can go back to a moment in time with him.
Ryan was a kind and compassionate soul. When he went on patrol rides, he was the kind of deputy that would leave gift cards for homeless people.
Ryan and Jamie completed each other in every possible way, and we take comfort knowing that he is with his soulmate. They did everything together and they always had a little friendly competition. Right now, we picture them traveling all over heaven, walking among the clouds together, sipping on a beer and some whiskey or scotch, which Jamie loved to collect."
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A memorial fund has also been started for the officers' families.
The fiery crash occurred just before 10:30 a.m. when a Honda Civic traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of I-5 near Dairy Mart Road collided with a Ford sedan occupied by Ryan and Jamie. The identity of the female driver has not yet been released and CHP traffic investigators are still piecing together the events that led to the tragic collision.
