2 people killed, 2 people injured in crash on Parkway, road closure in place

PITTSBURGH — Charges have been filed in a wrong-way crash that killed two people on the Parkway East Sunday evening.

State police announced Monday afternoon that Pedro Olan Morales is facing several charges including aggravated assault by a vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and multiple other traffic violations.

The crash happened at the 71-mile marker on I-376 West near the Allegheny County Jail around 7:30 p.m.

State police said a Chevy Silverado pickup truck was traveling at a “pretty decent rate of speed” eastbound in the westbound lanes and crashed into a Nissan Frontier.

“By the time you have a vehicle hitting 50 to 70 miles one way and another going the same speed the other direction, reactionary time is almost zero because you as a driver do not expect someone to be coming the other direction,” said Trooper Rocco Gagliardi.

But there was one car that did swerve to get out of the way before that Silverado crashed into the Nissan. Police said that driver then watched the crash as his girlfriend, the driver of the Nissan, Shannon Morrow, 52, was hit and killed along with his mother, Sharon Orlofske, who was a passenger.

The two men who were inside the truck, including Morales, were taken to a nearby hospital.

A road closure was in place on the Parkway for several hours.

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