Vehicle Smashes Through Illinois Building, Killing 4 Young People and Injuring Others
A car smashed through a building Monday afternoon, killing four young people and injuring several others during an after-school program in a small city outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.
Officers responded at about 3:20 p.m. to calls about a vehicle ramming through the building, fatally hitting four people before exiting the other side, Chatham Police Department Deputy Chief Scott Tarter said.
Those killed were between the ages of 4 and 18, Illinois State Police said in an emailed statement. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon identified the victims as “female students,” saying their identities will be released after family members are notified. Several other people were hurt and taken to hospitals, reported The Associated Press.
It wasn’t immediately known what led up to the crash or whether it was intentional.
Monday’s crash is the latest instance of people driving vehicles into groups of people across the globe. Only two days earlier, a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11.
The Illinois driver, who was uninjured, was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, Tarter said. Police haven’t said if the driver was arrested or taken into custody.
