Raul Silva Corona, 42, and Officer Brandon Mendoza, 32, killed in crash on U.S. Highway 60 on May 12.

A suspected wrong-way driver and an off-duty Mesa police officer died in a fiery head-on crash early Monday morning.

The suspected wrong-way driver was first seen going east in the westbound lanes of the Loop 101 Pima Freeway near Cactus Road in Scottsdale about 12:30 a.m., said Carrick Cook of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Mesa police Sgt. Tony Landato confirmed the officer worked for the Mesa Police Department.

"We are saddened beyond words to report that one of our officers was hit and killed this morning by a wrong-way driver," Landato said in a statement released about 5:30 a.m.

Cook said a DPS officer tried to intercept the driver in a Chevrolet Trailblazer going south on northbound State Route 51, but the driver tried to ram the officer, went around and took off before heading east on westbound Interstate 10.

The driver then traveled the wrong way up an HOV ramp from U.S. Highway 60, where the SUV struck a passenger car driven by the officer, Cook said. Both cars erupted in flames.

The off-duty officer was returning home from his shift when his car was struck, Cook said.

The driver of the SUV died at the scene, and the officer was taken to a Phoenix hospital with life-threatening injuries, but later died.