FROM STAFF REPORTS

Two people were killed and a third person was injured in a crash on Garner Bagnal Boulevard in Statesville on Thursday afternoon.

The Statesville Police Department is investigating the crash, which occurred around 4:50 p.m. at the intersection of Garner Bagnal Boulevard and Buffalo Shoals Road.

According to an SPD new release, a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Michael Henry Watkins, 62, of Statesville was traveling north on Garner Bagnal and attempted to turn onto Buffalo Shoals Road when it was struck by a tractor trailer heading south on Garner Bagnal Boulevard.

Watkins and a passenger whose name was withheld pending notification of next of kin were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The driver of the tractor trailer, identified as Latoyia Spears, 37, of Salisbury was transported to a local hospital for injuries she sustained.