Child fatally struck by a school bus in Brooklyn
A young Brooklyn girl walking to school was fatally struck by a school bus early Tuesday — right in front of her stunned brother, police and witnesses said.
The student, 10, was hit by the yellow bus while in the crosswalk at around 6:45 a.m. at the intersection of Crescent Street and Wortman Avenue in East New York where there are all-way stop signs, cops said.
The girl and her brother were headed to the Achievement First Linden Elementary School — the charter school she attended — at the time of the fatal incident, witnesses said.
“Her brother just witnessed his sister get hit by a bus and die in front of his face. He was in shock,” said witness 16-year-old Trevor Tolliver, who estimated the brother was around the same age as the sister.
Medics rushed the child, whose identity was not immediately released, to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Tolliver said that the young girl’s brother had glass in his “bleeding” leg.
Shortly after the crash, Tolliver said the children’s devastated parents arrived on the scene.
“He was ready to kill the bus driver. He was a pretty big guy too,” Tolliver said of the apparent father, who kept repeating, “I’m gonna’ f–k him up. I’m gonna’ f–k him up.”
“The mom was standing in the middle of the street, her hands on her face, bawling,” Tolliver said. “She didn’t want to see her daughter. They weren’t trying to look at all that.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a tweet Tuesday morning that the young girl had been walking to school.
“She was just ten years old. No family should have to suffer something like this,” the mayor said.
The school bus’s 61-year-old driver remained on the scene and was later taken into custody for questioning, cops said.
No arrests were immediately made.
According to the Department of Education, the driver was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and will be sent for drug and alcohol testing.
The bus involved in the fatal crash was a DOE-contracted vehicle, officials said.
Police said the school bus was turning right onto Wortman Avenue from Crescent Street when the collision occurred.
It remains under investigation whether the bus driver stopped at the stop sign, authorities said.
There were no children on board the bus at the time, according to officials.
“This is devastating, and my heart goes out to the family and school community. We are providing all support necessary during this difficult time,” Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said in a statement.
According to the DOE, Carranza visited the charter school that the victim attended Tuesday morning to offer support and condolences.
Lydia Irvin, a parent of a student at the school, said that the young victim was “a good friend of my daughters” and in her daughter’s class.
“She was one of the good kids. She was nice,” Irvin said of the victim. “No one can understand…a lot of people were crying.”
Achievement First spokeswoman Amanda Pinto said that the school is “devastated and heartbroken” by the death of one of its students.
“She will be deeply missed by all of us, and our hearts are with her family,” Pinto said.
Advocacy group Transportation Alternatives said that the child is at least the 20th pedestrian killed by a driver on city streets in 2020 and the fourth killed in the last 48 hours.
“This crash could have been prevented,” the group said in a statement.
“At present, New York City has built and continues to invest in a transportation system that prioritizes moving traffic instead of protecting human life. This crash is not simply a failure of judgment on the part of the driver; it is a failure of leadership on the part of elected officials who accept tragedies like these as the price we pay for mobility.”
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn-based Total Transportation Corp., which operates the bus involved in the crash, said: “We send our condolences to the family and friends of the 10-year-old girl involved in the accident. We are actively working with the police as they continue their investigation.”