IL Chatham Four children and teenagers killed after car crashed through building

[ASipowicz]

Terrible news.

Four people, all of them children or teenagers, were killed and several others were injured on Monday when a car crashed through an after-school center in Chatham, Ill., a village just south of Springfield, the State Police said.

The victims are believed to be 18 years and younger, the Illinois State Police Department said in a news release.

The car struck three of the victims outside the building and the other inside it, the police said. Several others were taken to the hospital, and at least one person was airlifted, the authorities said.

There was no additional information on the injuries on Monday evening or the ages of those injured, said Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police.

 

[ASipowicz]

From the same article:
The driver, who has not been identified, was not injured and was undergoing an evaluation at the hospital Monday evening, the State Police said. No one else was in the vehicle, the police said.

Officers with the Chatham Police Department, Chatham Fire Department and other agencies responded to a call Monday afternoon of a vehicle driving into Y.N.O.T. After School Camp, the State Police said.

According to the police, the driver drove into the east side of the building, striking multiple people outside and then continued driving through the building, hitting more people inside before exiting through to the west side.

The Illinois State Police and the Chatham Police Department are investigating the crash.

 

[Twick]

Incredible a person could drive through a building and not be seriously injured. From Twitter reports, the driver was a middle-aged woman.

 

[airportwoman]

The driver, who was not injured and her tox screen was negative, was identified as 43-year-old Marianne Akers. She says she has no memory of the incident, and is believed to have had a seizure. I do not know if she has any history of a seizure disorder; that information most likely will come out later.

This poor woman probably wishes she had died instead of those kids. I extend my condolences to all of them.

Following After-School Crash That Killed 4, Driver's Lawyer Speaks Out and Calls It 'Freak Occurrence' from Seizure

Marianne Akers, who crashed through an after-school camp in Chatham, Ill., killing four, had a seizure and has no memory of the incident, according to her lawyer.

people.com