The deaths of three children and an adult teenager when a vehicle deviated from a Illinois road and in a camp after school were probably not the result of an objective attack, police said Tuesday.
Illinois State Police investigating the tragedy in the Chatham village said the driver was not in custody, since detectives expect the results of toxicology tests.
“The cause of the accident remains under investigation, but this does not seem to be an objective attack,” state police said in a statement on Tuesday.
The driver and the only occupant of the vehicle were identified as Marianne Akers, 44, of Chatham, who was hospitalized “for evaluation” but not injured, according to the state police statement. It was not clear if she has been launched.
Akers was an employee of food services who worked for the last time in the Ball-Chaatham school district in November 2022, the district said.
The victims were identified as Rylee Britton, 18; Ainsley Johnson, 8; Alma Buhnerkempe, 7; And Kathryn Corley, 7, all declared dead on the scene, said Sangamon County Jimon Allmon count in a statement on Tuesday.
Ball-Chaatham schools said the four were district students.
“In times like these, it is important that we support each other to obtain strength and support,” the district said in a statement.
Six other children were injured and hospitalized, one in a critical condition, said the state police.
A spokesman for the Hospital’s sisters health system indicated that the six were taken to the St. John hospital before being treated and discharged, and the remaining five were transferred to the St. John’s Children’s Hospital, a pediatric trauma center.
Jamie Loftus, founder of Ynot Outdoors Summer Camp & After School, said in a statement on Tuesday that the collision was a “disturbing tragedy.”
Loftus said the camp security video captured the accident: a large SUV and speeding hit the east wall of the Ynot building around 3:20 pm and went out to the west before stopping against a post of public services.
“He traveled through an agricultural field of 78 Acres, Arco on a road that the security cameras observed, showed that he was going to our building at high speed,” Loftus said. “Without an apparent attempt to alter its direction, the vehicle crossed North Brekenridge and the sidewalk, continuing in our parking lot and on the east wall of our building.”
Jamie and Mitzi Loftus, Springfield’s near residents, founded the camp in 2002 to help keep the children active and stimulate their minds during the summer, according to the camp website.
Saying that the families of the victims “realize a lot, very badly,” Jamie Loftus asked that people take them into account but “give them space and respect.”
Ava Kelley and Insiya Gandhi contributed.
