Fourth grader riding bike hit, killed in front of school in crosswalk, Florida cops say

A fourth grade girl riding her bike was hit and killed by an SUV outside the entrance to her school, Florida police said.

The crash happened at Sugar Mill Elementary School shortly after 7 a.m. on May 24, according to the Port Orange Police Department.

The driver of the SUV had just dropped off another student and was leaving the school when the vehicle struck the student, who was in the crosswalk, Police Chief Manuel Marino said in a news conference broadcast by WESH.

The driver stayed on the scene and was “distraught” but cooperative, Marino said.

The girl was rushed to a hospital, where she died of her injuries. She hasn’t been identified.

School officials called the student’s death an “unimaginable loss.”

“You never want to lose one of your students,” Sugar Mill Elementary Principal Carol Sullo said in a video message. “And it’s with great sadness we have lost one of our Panthers today.”

Grief counselors will be on campus.

In the last five years, there have been three crashes in the area, with the most recent one involving minor crashes in a different crosswalk in 2022, Marino said.

There are no crossing guards at the school, according to the chief.

Volusia County schools are in session for one more week, and community members can expect to see an increased law enforcement presence around the school.

Charges have not been announced against the driver, and the investigation is ongoing.

Port Orange is on the east coast of Florida, about a 60-mile drive northeast from Orlando.