OXNARD, Calif. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was killed and a woman and a 9-year-old girl were injured when they were hit by a van outside a Southern California elementary school Monday morning in what authorities are calling a tragic accident.
The van’s driver, a 17-year-old girl, stayed at the scene in Oxnard and is cooperating with investigators, said Commander Luis McArthur with the city’s police department.
The girl told investigators the sun was in her eyes and “she simply didn’t see them” as the woman and the two children were in a crosswalk, McArthur said.
All three victims were rushed to a hospital, where the boy died. The woman and her 9-year-old daughter were in stable condition and expected to survive, McArthur said.
The boy was the woman’s neighbor and she routinely walked him to school along with her daughter, the commander said.
“There’s no evidence at this point that this is anything beyond a tragic accident,” McArthur said. The incident remains under investigation.
The teen driver, who had just dropped her sister’s children at school, was distraught after the crash, he said.
Oxnard is a city of 210,000 people in Ventura County about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of downtown Los Angeles.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.