15-Year-Old Olympic High Student Struck and Killed Crossing Road to Board School Bus
CHARLOTTE, NC – Parents are calling for changes after a Charlotte teen was struck and killed crossing the road to board her school bus.
“I just can’t imagine what they’re going through. Their sadness to see their friend hit like that,” says Steele Creek resident Janet Graf.
Graf’s granddaughter was there when an SUV struck and killed a 15-year-old Olympic High School student Tuesday morning.
Graf says her granddaughter was getting on the bus when it happened.
“She heard it. She turned around. She witnessed most of it,” Graf says.
Investigators say the teen was crossing Youngblood Road at Buckthorne Ridge Lane, trying to reach the bus when the crash happened around 6:00 am.
Police say speed was not a factor.Β There are no overhead street lights and no crosswalk there.
Counselors were on hand all day a few miles away at Olympic High School.
“It was really sad. It was kinda depressing because everybody was crying and upset by what happened,” says Olympic student Elysha Douglas.
Investigators have not released the teen’s name.Β Classmates say she was a Sophomore and was active in ROTC.
“She was a really nice person, really sweet personality,” Douglas says.
“School was very quiet today, we heard some people crying across from other classrooms and stuff,” says student Darrell Douglas Jr.
Back at the bus stop, parents say they want to see changes.
“I think the bus should come into the neighborhood to pick up these kids instead of out here on this busy highway,” says Steele Creek resident Mary Winn.
Winn meets her eight-year-old granddaughter there in the afternoons.
“My heart is broken for the family of that little girl. It’s really sad, because it could have easily been my granddaughter,” she says.
