LINDEN — One city police officer and a civilian were killed in a fatal crash involving a car and a truck in Staten Island this morning, city officials said.

UPDATE:

Off-duty cops had just left strip club before fatal crash

The Linden Police Department was notified at 6:34 a.m. today that the officers were three of the four men inside a car that was involved in a collision on the West Shore Expressway, Capt. James Sarnicki said in a statement.

The civilian and one officer were declared dead, and the other two officers were in critical condition at local hospitals, Mayor Derek Armstead said.

The car had been traveling the wrong way in the southbound lanes when it collided head-on with a tractor trailer shortly before 5 a.m., SILive.com reported.

Capt. James Sarnicki of the Linden Police Department speaks to reporters after an off-duty officer was killed in a Staten Island crash.

The police department is not identifying the officers or providing other details until the families have been notified, Sarnicki said.

He said all four occupants of the car were males in their 20s. The civilian was not a city employee, as some news outlets have reported, Sarnicki said.

Armstead said he learned of the crash about 8 a.m. today and was still trying to gather information.

"The news is still coming in," said Armstead, who was on his way to city hall early this morning.

The driver of the truck and a New York firefighter also suffered minor injuries, according to the SILive.com report.

The accident is still under investigation.

Sarnicki said he did not know the details of what lead to the crash.

"Where they were going, what they were doing, I have no idea," he said.

After the New York Police Department contacted Linden this morning, Chief James Schulhafer immediately headed to New York, where NYPD officers met him at the Goethals Bridge to provide an escort, Sarnicki said.

A police chaplain and grief counselors are stationed at Linden police headquarters today.

"It's a tragedy," Sarnicki said.

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Katie Lannan may be reached at klannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katielannan. Find NJ.com on Facebook.