Three young children and a teenager were killed when a car barreled through a building used for an after-school camp in central Illinois, but authorities said Tuesday that the crash that sent six other children to the hospital was likely not a targeted attack.
The car left a road, crossed a field and smashed into the side of the building in the small city of Chatham on Monday afternoon, Illinois State Police said in a statement. It traveled through the building, striking numerous people before exiting the other side.
Police said two 7-year-olds, an 8-year-old and an 18-year-old were killed. Six more children were taken to hospitals and one remained in critical condition.
The driver, who was not injured, was taken to a hospital for evaluation and police said toxicology reports were pending. The driver, a 44-year-old woman, was not in custody on Tuesday morning. State police declined to offer further details about the driver, saying the crash remains under investigation.
“This does not appear to be a targeted attack,” state police said in a statement.
The deadly crash comes days after a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11 people. Similar vehicle ramming events have taken place worldwide in recent years, some inspired by extremist politics or blamed on mental illness.
As Illinois investigators pieced together evidence from the crash site, residents in the close-knit community of about 15,000 mourned. Several prayer services were scheduled for Tuesday and a middle school offered counseling. Chatham is about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the state capital of Springfield.
Parents said the Youth Needing Other Things Outdoors after-school and summer camp programs are highly coveted, offering a space where students from different elementary schools get to know each other.
Jennifer Walston, 43, and her three daughters left flowers and a stuffed animal at the crash site Tuesday. The large hole in the side of the building where the car entered was boarded over with plywood and an area behind the building was cordoned off with yellow tape.
Walston’s daughters attend the group’s summer camp and said they knew two girls who died in the crash. Authorities have not released the victims’ names.
“They see each other in the community. This is just devastating,” she said.
Jamie Loftus, founder of YNOT Outdoors, said security camera footage showed a vehicle that left the road “a substantial distance” away and sped across the field toward the building.
The car then crossed a road, the sidewalk and YNOT’s parking lot before crashing through the building “with no apparent attempt to alter its direction,” Loftus said. After passing through the building, the vehicle crossed a gravel road and crashed into a power pole and ballfield fence.
“I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print. However, I do know that our families who suffered loss and injury today, are hurting very, very badly,” Loftus said in a social media post on Monday. “They are friends and their kids are like our kids.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said his office was monitoring the situation and was ready to lend support.
“I am horrified and deeply saddened by the deaths of children and numerous injuries in Chatham this afternoon,” Pritzker said in a statement Monday. “My heart is heavy for these families and the unimaginable grief they’re experiencing – something that no parent should ever have to endure.”
Chatham Police Department asked for prayers.
“A terrible tragedy has occurred here that has affected all of us,” the department said in a Facebook post.
By Monday night, some members of the community and beyond had changed their Facebook profile photos to an image of a red ribbon and the words “Chatham Strong.”
