4TH UPDATE 10:20 PM: The Santa Clarita office of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department just issued an update on the fatal car accident involving actor Paul Walker, declaring that “speed was a factor in the solo vehicle collision” and listing the car involved as a red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. According to sources, the man behind the wheel was Roger Rodas, a friend of Walker’s and owner of Always Evolving, a Valencia-based performance shop for high-end vehicles, who listed Porsche Carrera GT as one of his top 3 favorite cars of all time on the company’s web site. The two, who shared a love for cars, are believed to have gone for a ride at the end of the charity event for Reach Out Worldwide, which both Walker and Always Evolving supported.

Photos: Paul Walker, 1973-2013

3RD UPDATE: The shocking death of 40-year old actor Paul Walker has begun to overwhelm a holiday weekend in Hollywood, and studios that worked with the easygoing star are reaching out with statements. Walker recently wrapped Brick Mansions, the remake of the parkour-heavy French action film Banlieue 13 that Relativity will release next November 27. He grew close with Relativity president Tucker Tooley, who said: “We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of Paul Walker. Paul was an incredibly talented artist, devoted philanthropist and friend. Our hearts go out to his family and our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

Others who worked with the model-handsome star said that he loved surfing, loved his daughter Meadow, and that he was an animal lover. Despite his financial success from the Fast & The Furious franchise, Walker lived a relatively modest and simple life and did not get caught up in the trappings of being a movie star. He was a likeable young man who was devoted to his family. His full name was Paul Walker IV, and his father, grandfather and great grandfather all bore the same name.

Related: Paul Walker’s ‘Fast & Furious’ Family Mourns His Death

Universal Pictures, where Walker made the Fast & Furious movies he was best known for, hasn’t yet disclosed how this tragedy will impact the movie that is now in production. Of Walker, the studio said in a statement: “All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”

2ND UPDATE: Fast & Furious star Paul Walker was riding as passenger at the end of a charity event for Reach Out Worldwide at the time of his death, according to an update to his Paul Walker‘s official Twitter and Facebook page: “It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #TeamPW”

It’s with a heavy heart that we must confirm Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident…MORE: http://t.co/9hDuJMH99M – #TeamPW — Paul Walker (@RealPaulWalker) December 1, 2013

PREVIOUS 6:58 PM: Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker has died, his rep team has confirmed. He was 40. TMZ first reported Walker was one of two passengers killed in a car crash in Santa Clarita County, California. The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff department has confirmed to Deadline that a fatal collision occurred Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM on Rye Canyon Loop in Valencia where two victims inside a vehicle engulfed in flames were pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the collision is under investigation.

Walker, best known for starring in Universal’s Fast & Furious muscle car franchise, began his career as a child commercials actor and model and landed TV roles on Highway to Heaven, Throb, and sitcoms like Who’s the Boss? and Charles in Charge. Film roles in pictures like 1998’s Meet the Deedles followed before Walker came to prominence in the Gary Ross film Pleasantville. Then came Varsity Blues, She’s All That, The Skulls, and shortly after, 2001’s The Fast And The Furious opposite Vin Diesel. Walker reprised his role of the speed-racing Brian O’Conner in sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious with Tyrese Gibson. Before returning for the franchise’s fourth, fifth, and sixth installments, Walker ventured outside the supercharged Fast & Furious films to mixed results. Thriller Joyride, time travel pic Timeline, diving actioner Into the Blue, and Christmas drama Noel saw Walker tackle a variety of genres as leading man. In 2006 he earned cult notice for playing a mafioso in Wayne Kramer’s Running Scared the same year he starred in Disney’s #1 opener Eight Below and Clint Eastwood’s Flags of our Fathers. In 2009 he came back to the Fast & Furious fold in the fourth pic directed by Justin Lin.

Walker had been filming 2014 sequel Fast & Furious 7 before the holiday weekend crash, with James Wan directing ahead of a July 11, 2014 release date. He posted a cast photo from set last Sunday with co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Nathalie Emmanuel, Vin Diesel, Ludacris, and director Wan promoting his Reach Out Worldwide charity efforts to raise money for typhoon victims in the Philippines.