Truck crash next to Hancock Park Elementary School kills mother, hospitalizes girl
A mother was killed and her 6-year-old daughter was critically injured when a truck struck them in a crosswalk and crashed outside an elementary school in Mid-Wilshire Tuesday morning.
The woman and girl were struck by a Nissan Titan pickup truck at 6275 West Colgate Avenue next to Hancock Park Elementary School. The woman died at the scene. The girl and the driver were hospitalized.
Los Angeles police officers and Los Angeles firefighters responded and found two victims in the roadway at about 8 a.m.
A 35-year-old woman died at the scene and a child was hospitalized in critical condition. The child is a girl about 6 years old according to preliminary reports.
Investigators believe the woman and girl are mother and daughter. Police said the 6-year-old girl is a first-grade student at Hancock Park Elementary.
The driver of the truck was hospitalized in moderate condition. He was described as about 30 years old.
Police said the man was driving southbound on Ogden Drive when the truck struck the victims in a crosswalk at the intersection of Colgate Avenue.
The truck crashed into the side of a two-story apartment building, where it came to rest at the scene, according to the LAFD.
The area of Colgate and Ogden was closed during the investigation.
Initially, Los Angeles firefighters said the driver appeared to be in an "altered state," but police said it's too soon to tell whether the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or was suffering a medical emergency.
Police believe the driver was speeding.
Neighbors told KCAL News vehicles often drive at high speeds through the small, residential school neighborhood.
"They're going to have to look at debris fields. They'll have to look at the vehicle, any tire marks, interview witnesses, all those things to make sure that we've got a really airtight investigation," said LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow.
Multiple witnesses were present at the scene of the collision as the school day began. Grief counselors were summoned to the campus.
