A tragic incident occurred near Hancock Park Elementary School when a mother in her 30s was killed and her 6-year-old daughter, a first-grader at the school, was critically injured after being struck by a potentially impaired driver. The collision took place in the mid-Wilshire area around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, close to Fairfax and Colgate avenues, as reported by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
The mother and her daughter were walking in a crosswalk on the 6200 block of West Colgate Avenue when a southbound pickup truck struck them. The vehicle continued driving south and eventually crashed into an apartment building. The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed the mother’s death at the scene and transported the young girl to the hospital in critical condition.
The driver, a 30-year-old man, was taken to the hospital in moderate condition and was detained for further investigation. LAPD Chief Michel Moore initially indicated that there were signs the driver was impaired, but investigators later determined that he had experienced a medical emergency before the crash and had not been involved in any criminal activity.
Authorities are currently interviewing witnesses and searching for video footage of the collision.
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Alberto Carvalho expressed his condolences and ensured that mental health counselors were available on site for students and staff. Nick Melvoin, LAUSD Board of Education member, extended his sympathies and affirmed the district’s commitment to providing mental health and counseling services to those in need.
In response to the tragedy, Yaroslavsky will support a motion before the council’s Transportation Committee to install speed humps around all elementary schools in the city. She emphasized the need to treat street safety in Los Angeles as a crisis and to provide Hancock Park Elementary with a crossing guard at the intersection where the accident occurred