A USC community continued to grieve after it was revealed a student athlete was among the people killed in a fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash on the day before Thanksgiving in Northern California.
Soren Dixon and two others died in Piedmont last week after the Cybertruck they were in became engulfed in flames.
Dixon was a biological science major at USC after attending Piedmont High School.
Two other deceased people were identified as Jack Nelson and Krysta Tsukahara. A fourth person in the truck survived.
All victims were students at different colleges and were home in Piemont for Thanksgiving.
Some of Dixon’s friends and classmates learned of his death over the holiday.
“We all kind of hugged our loved ones a little tighter this break,” Bronso Boyle, who became a roommate to Dixon in their freshman year. “Life can be taken away really quickly.”
Dixon, who was on USC’s lacrosse team as a freshman, was active in his fraternity, constantly creating a sense of community.
“Finding groups to go off campus, go to the beach, go surfing and go rock climbing – he was always trying to find other people who liked the same stuff he did,” Boyle said.
The school community came together Monday night to honor Dixon at a vigil on Greek Row.
“The world isn’t going to stop, but we can’t forget him,” Boyle said.
Piedmont Police said speed was a factor in the crash, but it may be too early to determine if the car malfunctioned in any way.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told NBC Los Angeles that it’s aware of the crash and gathering information from investigators and Tesla.