3 Orange County Girls Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver While Trick-Or-Treating
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Three teenage girls trick-or-treating in costume were hit and killed in a Halloween hit-and-run collision while walking at a Southern California intersection Friday night, authorities said.
The girls were in a crosswalk near an elementary school in Santa Ana when the vehicle with two men inside hit them about 6:45 p.m., police and fire officials said.
The girls, whose names were not immediately clear, ranged in ages from 13 to 15, Orange County fire Capt. Steve Concialdi said. Two of them were declared dead immediately, and a third died as paramedics prepared to take her to a hospital, Concialdi said.
The scene was "very sad," Concialdi said, "when millions of children, teenagers and adults are out trick-or-treating on a wonderful evening to insert tragedy like this."
The department sent chaplains and volunteers to the scene to counsel other people out trick-or-treating, Concialdi said.
The suspects fled. Police had no immediate description of the vehicle or suspect.
"We have several witnesses that were in the area. We're trying to figure that part out," Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. "We're also trying to find the parents of these children."
Jeff Evans was trick-or-treating with his 8-year-old daughter about a half-block away when he heard squealing tires, looked over and saw the collision.
"When we got over here, there was already a tarp over two girls," Evans told the Orange County Register.
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