Tippy Valley Changes Bus Stop In Response To Fatal Accident
Tippy Valley Changes Bus Stop In Response To Fatal Accident
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Tippy Valley Changes Bus Stop In Response To Fatal AccidentAKRON – After Tuesday’s accident that claimed the lives of three Tippecanoe Valley students and injured a fourth, the school corporation announced Wednesday a change to that bus stop.
A recording of a verbal probable cause affidavit released by Fulton County Superior Court officials also revealed more details about the tragedy.
Effective today, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. will relocate the bus stop on Ind. 25 into Meiser Park, according to a statement from Superintendent Blaine Conley. The bus had been picking up students on the state road.
Twins Xzavier and Mason Ingle, 6, and their sister, Alivia Stahl, 9, were killed when they were hit by a pickup as they were getting on the school bus Tuesday morning at a mobile home park on Ind. 25 in Fulton County. Alyssa Shepherd, 24, of rural Rochester, was driving the pickup.
A fourth student hit by the truck, Maverik Lowe, 11, was flown to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne with multiple broken bones and internal injuries.
In the statement, Conley said, “In addition, I am establishing a transportation safety review committee which will examine all of our bus stop locations to ensure our children are transported safely. I will co-chair this committee with Fulton County Sheriff Christopher Sailors and Kosciusko County Sheriff W.R. Goshert. Other committee members will include school transportation officials, bus drivers and the president of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Board of School Trustees.”
He said, “This has been a very difficult day for our school family as we attempt to cope with the devastating loss of three elementary students and a critically injured middle school student. I am very appreciative of our teachers, administrators and staff that assisted, comforted, and supported our students and each other today in our schools. We also had counselors and clergy available for anyone who desired additional support and we will continue to provide counselors as needed.”
Detectives spoke with three people during their investigation, including Shepherd; the bus driver, Robert Reid; and a person driving behind Shepherd.
According to the court recording made Tuesday, Shepherd told police she had dropped her husband off at work and had three children in her vehicle. She said she didn’t know how fast she was going, but she is normally a slow driver and wasn’t in a hurry. She was taking her brother to her mom’s house so he could get to school.
A detective testified Shepherd said she came around the corner and saw something with lights. She did not immediately recognize it as a school bus.
Shepherd said she dimmed her lights but she couldn’t make out what it was. By the time she realized what it was, the kids were right in front of her.
The driver behind Shepherd’s truck said she had been following her for a while and was going about 55 mph when she caught up to the truck. The driver said they went around the corner and she slowed down to 45 mph. She told officers she saw the bus clearly with all of its lights activated.
The driver began to slow down and realized the truck in front of her was not slowing. She said the truck’s headlights illuminated the children as they were crossing the road. The driver began to freak out when she realized the truck wasn’t stopping.
When the judge asked if the witness behind Shepherd could see the bus unequivocally when she came around the corner, the detective said, “Yes. She could clearly see it was a school bus.”
Reid told investigators he had driven the route for a couple of years. He said he always made sure no vehicles were coming and then would wave the children to cross the street. He told police he saw a vehicle quite a ways away, but he didn’t have any reason to think the vehicle would not stop.
After Reid waved the kids across, he realized the vehicle was not stopping. He hit his horn but there was nothing he could do.
The Indiana State Police issued a statement Wednesday from the parents of Lowe.
They said, “We would like to thank those who have prayed for our family/families of those involved in yesterday's tragedy. He is currently in stable condition. Our family is focused on his recovery at this time and requests privacy as we heal together.”
Lowe is at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. Parkview Health reported that at the family’s request, his health information has been listed as confidential. Further updates to the media will be unavailable.
The candlelight vigil scheduled for tonight to honor the children has been postponed. The vigil will be at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mentone Youth League, 107 W. Jefferson St., Mentone, according to News Now Warsaw.
On Friday, there will be a prayer-at-the-pole in the Tippecanoe Valley Middle School gym at 7:45 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and it is optional for students. Enter through the gym entrance and not the main door entrance. Tippecanoe Valley High School student Faith Kamp will lead the prayer, according to a tweet from the school corporation. “This is a time to come and pray for the events of this past week and for the weeks and months ahead,” it states.
Two GoFundMe accounts have been started for the victims.
The account for Maverik Lowe was started by Jocelynne Lowe on behalf of Kourtney Stone. As of this morning, it had raised $33,635 of its $45,000 goal. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/maverik-medical-bills-and-relief.
The account for the Ingle twins and their sister was started by Tonya Andrews. As of this morning, it had raised $95,590 of its $100,000 goal. It can be found at gofundme.com/family-lost-3-kids-at-bus-stop.
