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Oklahoma
Four dead and 44 injured after car strikes US homecoming parade crowd
A two-year-old boy is among the dead.
A WOMAN SUSPECTED of driving under the influence struck a crowd yesterday during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, killing four people — including a two-year-old boy — and injuring dozens more in a collision.
Stillwater police Captain Kyle Gibbs said the woman’s Hyundai Elantra struck a police motorcycle – not being used at the time – of an officer who was working security at the parade, then went into the crowd.
She was taken into custody, and Gibbs said investigators were awaiting the results of blood tests to determine if she was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Oklahoma University Medical Center and The Children’s Hospital announced in a statement yesterday evening that a 2-year-old was the fourth person to die from injuries suffered in the morning crash. Five children and three adults remained hospitalised with conditions ranging from good to critical, officials said.
Gibbs confirmed later Saturday that the 2-year-old was a boy and that the other three people who died were all adults. He also said the number of people injured had grown to 44.
Police said Adacia Chambers (25) of Stillwater, was arrested on the DUI charge.
“We treat these like we would any homicide investigation,” Gibbs said.
It’ll probably take several days to get additional information as to the cause of the accident.
Chambers’ father, Floyd Chambers of Oologah, told The Oklahoman newspaper he couldn’t believe his daughter was involved and said she was not an alcoholic. He described his daughter as “timid” and said she had attended homecoming festivities Friday night with family but that her boyfriend had told him she was home by 10 pm
“This is just not who she is. They’re going to paint her into a horrible person but this is not (her),” Floyd Chambers told the paper.
A woman who answered a call to a phone number listed for Floyd Chambers told The Associated Press no one was available to talk.
Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis said there had been discussion about canceling the homecoming game that afternoon against Kansas, but it was played as scheduled. The victims were remembered with a moment of silence before kickoff, and most of the OSU players knelt on the sideline in prayer.
Even as the game began, some of the bodies remained at the scene of the crash less than three blocks away from the stadium. National Guard troops kept watch as officials with the Red Cross and state medical examiner’s office continued their work.
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