A 21-year-old college hockey captain who hoped to become a police officer was killed in a wrong-way crash involving a Mexican national who had allegedly entered the United States illegally multiple times after being previously removed, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Ryan O’Shea, a senior at the University of New Haven, was driving south on Interstate 91 in North Haven late Oct. 16 when a Chevrolet Silverado traveling in the wrong direction collided head-on with his Honda Accord, according to Connecticut State Police.
The Silverado was driven by 31-year-old Guillermo Carmona-Lopez of Bridgeport, according to the State Police accident summary.
The impact pushed O’Shea’s vehicle into another lane, where it was struck by a Jeep. The Honda then moved onto the right shoulder and was hit by a third vehicle.
O’Shea sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Carmona-Lopez was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. Three other people suffered minor injuries.
DHS told Fox News Digital that Carmona-Lopez had entered the country illegally several times despite a prior removal and a final order of removal.
“In May 2013, Border Patrol arrested Guillermo Carmona-Lopez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, after he illegally entered the country,” a DHS spokesperson said. “Carmona-Lopez was issued an expedited removal and was removed from the country.”
DHS said Carmona-Lopez later crossed into the country again near the Rio Grande Valley and was arrested by Border Patrol that same month.
“Carmona-Lopez was issued a final order of removal on May 30, 2013,” the spokesperson said. “He then reentered the country at an unknown time and place.”
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O’Shea, who was from Stony Point, New York, studied criminal justice with a concentration in police science at the University of New Haven. He also served as senior captain of the men’s club hockey team.
During the summer, he interned with the New York City Police Department. The university said he planned to join the NYPD after graduation before eventually pursuing a career with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“Ryan wanted to go into public service in order to help others,” his academic advisor, Lorenzo Boyd, said in a university tribute. “He was engaging in the classroom and will be missed greatly.”
Devin Bertrand, general manager of the men’s ice hockey club, remembered O’Shea as a teammate whose “infectious personality lit up our locker room the moment he walked in.”
O’Shea was also president of his Kappa Sigma fraternity chapter. The fraternity said he was returning from a hockey game when the crash happened.
“Ryan was not only a great leader, but he was a caring friend to anyone around him,” the fraternity said in a social media tribute. “He always knew how to light up a room and make people laugh, no matter the time.”
The State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad responded to the scene and is assisting with the investigation, which remains ongoing.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” the DHS spokesperson said. “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”
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