Ferndale ,WA : Two pedestrians killed and two other injured after driver hit them and arested on Wednesday afternoon ,June 10th 2015
A driver suspected of being high on drugs when he hit four teens walking along a Ferndale road Wednesday afternoon had a 3-year-old boy with him, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Two of the teenagers were killed in the crash and two others were critically injured, troopers said.
The accident happened at the intersection of West Smith Road and Graveline Road, according to Trooper Mark Francis with the Washington State Patrol. The scene is about two blocks west of Windward High School.
Francis said the teens were part of a group of roughly 30 students and a teacher from a gym class walking east along Smith Road around 1:40 p.m. when the SUV veered onto the sidewalk.
Shane Ormiston, 18, and Gabriel Anderson, 15, were pronounced dead at the scene, investigators said. The two 17-year-old survivors, Kole Randall and Michael Brewster, were rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital in critical condition, but have since been upgraded to serious but stable condition, a hospital spokesperson said. Francis said one of the teens was breathing on his own but has two broken legs.
Investigators say the driver, 34-year-old William Klein, admitted to using drugs. Klein, who was with a 3-year-old boy at the time of the crash, was arrested for investigation of two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular manslaughter. A warrant has been issued for a blood draw.
"Don't know how fast that guy was going but I don't think he was paying attention," one witness said. "He was up on the sidewalk when he got out of his truck."
Shelley Hardt was working nearby when she heard the screams after the crash.
"Just heard just the worst yell - just, 'No! No! No!' " Hardt said. "You knew that something really, really bad had happened. So I ran outside as fast as I could."
Hardt said the teacher among the group was completely distraught.
Source :
WSP: Driver arrested after crashing into 4 teens, killing 2