Evo 2016 Street Fighter 5 hopeful dies in car accident on way to tournament

Two members of California's fighting game scene were involved in a fatal accident on Friday 15 July while on their way to compete in the Street Fighter 5 tournament at this year's Evolution Championship Series.

Bobby Garcia died at the scene after he and friend Jordan Bryan collided with a parked trailer which had pulled over on to the hard shoulder to assist with a previous accident which had occurred minutes before (via Event Hubs).

That other accident involved a driver who was arrested at the scene allegedly having been found to be under the influence. Bryan was injured in the crash, with what were described as "life-threatening" injuries.

The crash took place on Interstate 15 near Baker, California at around 2.15am PDT as the pair were travelling to Las Vegas, where this year's Evo Championship took place. They were set to meet friends there and compete in the tournament which started later that day.

Those friends, Hugo Dominguez and Jose Sanchez, set up two GoFundMe pages to raise money for Garcia's funeral and Bryan's medical bills. The pages have raised $2,975 and $3,235 respectively at the time of writing.

"Bobby was a good friend, a kind soul with a humble heart," reads the story on Bobby's page. "Smart, opinionated, easy to talk to and one the funniest people I have ever met. He loved movies, comics, oldies, and of course Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, KOF [King of Fighters] and too many other games to list. With a broken heart, I ask that you please help his family with the expenses of his demise."

A story on Jordan's page confirmed that he had suffered a broken arm and jaw and was – at the time it was written – in a "critical but stable condition".

"Jordan is a part-time student at Pasadena City College who also works full-time to help his mom," it reads. "Although he leads a busy life as an exemplary student and employee, he always finds time to be with his friends, usually to play his favourite games. Jordan was looking forward to playing Street Fighter 5 with his friends at the year's biggest fight game tournament, Evo 2016."

Bobby went by the pseudonym "Lil Loco" on the fighting game scene, while Jordan goes by the nickname "Vienna Hotdog".

IBTimes UK has reached out to Evo 2016's organisers for comment.