The life of an 11-year-old girl hung in the balance after she and another 13-year-old girl were hit by a truck at their school bus stop this morning in Methuen, Massachusetts. The child suffered serious head trauma, was transported to Lawrence General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, and then airlifted to Tufts Medical Center, where she is listed in critical condition, according to authorities.
Her companion sustained injuries, including a fractured femur, and was in stable condition at this report. According to police, the Timony Grammar School students were both thrown about 60 feet after they were struck. Police said the driver of the truck who hit the girls is “completely cooperating” in the investigation as he stopped and called 911, gave a statement at the police station and was then permitted to leave. Police also said they believe solar glare likely caused the driver to hit the girls, according to one report.
On Tuesday, a 13-year-old boy died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver at a bus stop near his home in Wendell, North Carolina. Keith Jones was hit about 7 a.m. as he waited for his school bus, said the state Highway Patrol. Efren Vances, 28, of Clayton is charged with felony hit-and-run, misdemeanor death by a motor vehicle and driving without a license, according to the Highway Patrol.
Reportedly, the suspect contacted the Highway Patrol as word of the incident spread and told authorities he thought he had hit a deer, which is why he did not stop. It was not clear if speed was a factor, said Patrol spokesman Lt. Jeff Gordon, and it does not appear that alcohol played a role.
Meanwhile, on Monday just before 7 a.m. a 5-year-old boy was hit by car as he began to cross a street on his way to a school bus stop, according to police in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The boy was walking with two other children when he apparently darted into the road. He was transported to a local hospital with a broken right leg. Police said the female driver of the car was not cited.
Last Friday, three children remained hospitalized after being hit by vehicles while walking to bus stops in Jacksonville, Florida. Mikaylae Campbell, 15, suffered a potentially life-threatening head injury two days prior and remained in critical condition, according to the latest report. She was hit by a pickup truck as she and her teenage sister were headed to a school bus stop at 6:40 a.m., when it was still dark outside.
In a separate incident, a brother and sister were struck on the way to their bus stop Sept. 16, but the University of Florida hospital said they were in good condition.
