UPDATED: Four dead, more than 40 injured after car plows into Oklahoma State homecoming parade
Published 7:45 pm Saturday, October 24, 2015
- Adacia Avery Chambers
STILLWATER, Okla. – Authorities said a speeding car slammed into a crowd at Oklahoma State University’s homecoming parade Saturday morning, killing four people, including a two-year-old.
The driver of the vehicle, which was not part of the parade’s motorcade, was taken into custody on suspicion of drunken driving, the Stillwater Police Department said.
She was identified as Adacia Avery Chambers, 25, of Stillwater.
“People were flying 30 feet into the air like rag dolls,” said Konda Walker of Anchorage, Alaska, a 1991 alumnus of OSU in town for the homecoming festivities.
Ten of the more than 40 injured taken to local hospitals were considered in critical condition. Some of the injured were children.
A fleet of medical helicopters responded to the scene. Buses and private cars were also used to transport the victims to area hospitals.
The tragedy occurred at 10 a.m. at Main Street and Hall of Fame Avenue in this north-central Oklahoma town of 45,000 that is home to OSU.
The school’s football team was scheduled to play the University of Kansas Saturday afternoon in the annual homecoming game.
Dave Kapple of Houston, Texas, said he and his son were 10-feet away when the car “plowed through a police motorcycle and then into the crowd. People were flying everywhere.”
Witnesses identified the driver as a woman.
“I was sitting right here and she came plowing through,” said Larry Smith. “All I saw was bodies flying, kids flying. It was horrible.”
The university issued a statement saying it was saddened by the tragedy and that “our thoughts and prayers are with those affected.”
David Bitton is a reporter for the Stillwater, Oklahoma, News Press.
