Boy crawls under school bus to chase football and is fatally run over | US News

A nine-year-old boy who crawled under a school bus to retrieve a football was struck and killed.

The bus was stopped on Island Bay Drive in Orlando late afternoon Tuesday when the boy got off, said the Florida Highway Patrol.

As the driver left the Waterford East Apartments complex at the site, the boy ran back toward the bus and crawled under it as it moved, according to the report obtained by FOX 35.

The driver did not know the boy was underneath and ran him over. The boy was the only student who was on the bus.

‘It is absolutely devastating for this family that is here, but also for our investigators that have to investigate this type of scene,’ stated highway patrol spokesperson Lt Tara Crescenzi.

A woman who identified herself as the boy’s aunt told the TV station that he was an avid football player and ran under the bus to chase a ball.

The boy attended Lawton Chiles Elementary School, according to Orange County Public Schools. His identity was not immediately released.

‘We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic death of one of our precious students who was involved in a bus accident late this afternoon,’ stated school district superintendent Dr Maria Vazquez.

‘My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the student’s family and school community.

‘To lose a child so suddenly and tragically is extremely difficult, especially for family and friends.’

Highway patrol troopers questioned the 54-year-old unnamed driver, who had more than a decade of experience on the job.

‘We have interviewed the driver of the school bus however, we have to get the video to be able to check how the crash sequence of events actually occurred,’ Crescenzi told WESH.

Troopers reviewed surveillance footage from the bus and apartment complex and also interviewed at least one witness.

It was not immediately known if any charges would be filed.

The boy was fatally hit just over two years after a six-year-old first grade boy was struck and killed by a school bus in the Oakland Mobile Home Park neighborhood of Missouri on the last day of classes before the Christmas break.

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