NBC 7’s Rory Devine reports from Hidden Valley Middle School where a nightmare parking lot collision left three people hospitlaized.
Three children and an adult were injured after a driver accelerated and hit them in the parking lot at Hidden Valley Middle School in Escondido.
The crash happened on campus at 2700 Reed Road at around 1:52 p.m. just after dismissal, according to the Escondido Police Department.
Lt. Mike Kearney said the driver was a 75-year-old woman who was "confused" when she accelerated at a high rate of speed through the parking lot.
Escondido Fire Department Battalion Chief Andre Paredes said one student was airlifted to Rady Children's Hospital and another was taken there via ambulance. An adult pedestrian was also transported to Palomar Medical Center.
One child suffered a broken nose and cuts to the face while the other child suffered a broken knee, police said. The adult told police she was experiencing back pain following the crash.
The airlifted student was the 13-year-old granddaughter of the driver and had just gotten into her car, Kearney said.
The car jumped the curb, went through the fence and crashed into a building about 100 feet down a small slope.
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On the way, the car hit an 11-year-old student and her 42-year-old mother. Both were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries
A 13-year-old boy was also hit and suffered minor injuries.
"I was looking out for my son and then out of nowhere I see this car racing through the middle," parent Joel Morales said. "It didn't stop. It just kept going."
Principal Trent Smith sent an email to the school community saying that a driver in the East Parking Lot drove through a fence and hit two students and a parent shortly after dismissal.
"Because many of our students witnesses this event, we will be sharing information with them first thing tomorrow morning during our Raider Time," the email said.
Support counselors will be at the school Friday morning to meet with students and staff, the EUSD said.
The Escondido Police Department is handling the investigation.
