A tragic turn of events since Sunday night's serious car crash along Harmon Loop Road in Dededo. 

Guam Police Spokesperson Officer Berlyn Savella issued a press release midday Wednesday that the driver, identified as Traynie Radford, has died. 

Doctors at the Guam Regional Medical City took him off life support at 2:12 on Tuesday. 

The Intensive Care Unit Physician called his time of death six minutes later but prior to his passing, Officer Savella had announced Monday morning via press release that the victim died from his injuries. 

Multiple viewers and followers were quick to take to social media, calling out the report as “fake news” and in this case, rightfully so. 

More than 20 hours had passed before Officer Savella made a correction that the victim was still alive and in critical condition, calling it an “unfortunate mix-up.”

Savella has been unavailable for follow up interviews since then. 

In response, former Public Safety Oversight Chair Senator Chris Barnett comments “trust but verify.” 

Acting Public Safety Oversight Chair Senator Sabrina Salas Matanane issued a similar response.

“In life or death situations, journalists and the public rely on public information officers to provide verified and accurate details. As acting Public Safety Chair and a long time former member of the island's media corps, I understand that mistakes can happen, but announcing an individual's death can inflict someone's trauma to families that are involved. In this instance, I really believe that the Guam Police Department should issue a public apology to acknowledge the emotional toll this error has inflicted,” said Matanane.

But that public apology didn't come until 24 hours later via press release. 

Officer Savella today confirmed the driver's passing stating, “GPD deeply apologizes for any confusion  caused by the initial misinformation.”

“In light of the new information that was released today, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the family,” said Matanane. 

Meantime, KUAM continues to wait for GPD to respond to multiple requests for an interview regarding their mistake. 

KUAM offers our condolences to the victim's loved ones, and again an apology for initially reporting the wrong information released by local authorities.