An 8-year-old boy has died, and another child and a woman were injured after all three were hit by a van while they were headed to a school in Oxnard on Monday morning, police said.
About 7:40 a.m., the victims were in a crosswalk at Cooper Road and Anita Avenue when they were struck by a van outside Ramona Elementary School, according to Cmdr. Luis McArthur of the Oxnard Police Department. They were on their way to Cesar Chavez Elementary School, which is nearby.
Bystanders who witnessed the collision rushed over to render aid, but the young boy was already unresponsive.
“When I saw the little boy that he wasn’t responding … I was crying,” said one woman, who identified herself only as Azeneth.
The 8-year-old boy died of his injuries. He has not yet been identified.
”That little boy still had his whole life ahead of him,” said Atzaida Cortez, another eyewitness.
A 9-year-old girl and her mother were also seriously injured but are expected to survive, according to police. Both have been hospitalized.
The boy was their neighbor’s son, McArthur said.
“This was really traumatic for everyone who saw this,” McArthur said. “This was during prime, drop-off school hours. There were a lot of parents that were dropping off their kids at school, there were a lot of kids that were walking to school.”
The driver, a 17-year-old girl, was dropping her sister’s children off at Ramona when the crash took place, according to police. She remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.
The teen may have been momentarily blinded by the rising sun and possibly didn’t see the victims, authorities said.
The incident is under investigation and no further details have been released.
KTLA’s Matt Phillips contributed to this story.
