7-Year-Old Boy Fatally Struck By Van Moments After Getting Off School Bus In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A 7-year-old boy was killed in a crash moments after getting off the school bus Wednesday in Queens.
The accident happened shortly after 3 p.m. on Gipson Street in Far Rockaway.
Cameron Brown, 7, and his sister had just gotten off the bus when he was struck by a red van from God's Pentecostal Church. The force pinned him against the bus.
"I had to walk away with tears, I was crying also, to see a poor little kid there. He still had his school bag - backpack - on him, and he was on his stomach, and they were giving him CPR," witness Keith Williams told CBS2.
Surveillance video shows the school bus pull up. The red van can be seen behind it.
Police said it appears the 22-year-old driver of the van did not see the boy.
Both drivers stayed on the scene.
"The van was trying to back up. Instead of backing up, it goes forward. That's when he hit the boy between the van and the bus," said witness Jean Ulysses.
Brown was rushed to Saint John's Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Area residents said they were heartbroken by what the witnessed.
"Really a very sad situation," Ulysses said.
Grief counselors will be on hand Thursday at P.S. 43, where Brown was a student.
"I'm heartbroken by this tragic loss of one of our children, and share my condolences with the family and school community," Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said in a statement. "We will have crisis counseling available to students and staff for as long as it is needed."
There's no word on whether the driver of the van will face charges.
