A 22-year-old man, screaming that he couldn’t stop his car, crashed into a group of terrified children, parents and teachers Friday morning after they had gathered for an outdoor awards assembly at a South Side elementary school, police said.
Four children and at least seven other people were injured in the accident at Robert J. Fulton School, 5300 S. Hermitage, including three children who were seriously hurt and taken to area hospitals, according to Fire Department spokesman Will Knight.
Witnesses said the driver’s car came out of an alley, plowed through an opening in a wrought iron fence and into the middle of the ceremony taking place for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders.
“The car just barreled in and hit all these kids and sent everyone running,” said Stacy Hoyt, whose 5-year-old son Frederick was hit and dragged underneath the vehicle.
The driver was in custody, according to police Cmdr. John Killackey. Police said the crash appears to be an accident but the investigation is continuing.
At Cook County hospital, a 4-year-old girl was in serious condition, a spokesman said.
A 4-year old boy being treated at the University of Chicago Hospitals also was in serious condition with a laceration to his head, according to Ira Blumen, the attending physician in the emergency room. The boy, Blumen said, had to be extricated from underneath the car after the crash.
At least five people were taken to Mt. Sinai and one was released. The remaining four, a 5-year-old girl, a 10-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boyand a 12-year-old boy are in good to fair condition.
Porscha Smith, 10, was treated and released.
Two women, a 20-year-old and a 32-year-old, were in good condition and released from Little Company of Mary on Friday afternoon, said hospital spokeswoman Joan Murphy.
Three people were taken to Holy Cross, said hospital spokeswoman Michelle Boyd. A 3-month-old girl was in fair condition, a 4-month-old boy and a 40-year-old woman were both in good condition, Boyd said.
At Holy Cross, 3-month-old Khayla Thomas is in fair condition. A 4-month-old boy, Treysean Pouncy, is in good condition.
