A two-year-old boy died Saturday evening from injuries the toddler suffered when a driver suspected to be under the influence plowed into a crowd at a homecoming parade at Oklahoma State University, according to police. Three other people were killed at the scene of horrific crash and more than 40 were injured, police said.
The 25-year-old driver of the car, Adacia Chambers, was charged with driving under the influence and taken into custody, Stillwater police Capt. Kyle Gibbs said at an afternoon news conference.
Chambers allegedly drove the 2014 Hyundai Elantra into an unmanned police motorcycle before striking the crowd at around 10:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. ET), according to a statement from the Stillwater Police Department.
Witnesses described the horror after what was supposed to be a carefree day turned tragic. Tracy Epperson, from Tulsa, told NBC affiliate KJRH that she first heard “people screaming.”
“I turn around, and you just see bodies flying in the air,” she said. “That’s what’s going to be in my mind for forever.”
Police have not released identities or information about the victims, but one of those killed was a student at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, according to a statement from the school’s president, Dr. Don Betz.
“Nikita Nakal of Mumbai, India, an MBA student at UCO, was among those who died,” the statement said. “Our students come to Central with their unique goals, hopes and dreams, and Nikita was undoubtedly no different.”
Gibbs said it was too early to know what caused Chambers to allegedly drive into the crowd, but the investigation is being treated as a homicide and the Stillwater Police Department was reconstructing the scene. Police don’t believe Chambers, who is from Stillwater, is a student.
Forty-four people were injured in the crash, including at least seven who were critically wounded and nine who were seriously injured, according to police.
Stillwater Hospital said in a statement that 43 patients, from ages 1 to 86, were initially brought there with wounds ranging from cuts and scrapes to life threatening injuries.
At about 7 p.m. local time, four patients had been airlifted to St. John Hospital in Tulsa and OU Medical Center, three patients were still being treated at Stillwater and the rest had been discharged or were readying to be discharged, according to the statement.
An OU Medical Center spokesman said four children and three adults were being treated there as of Saturday evening. The 2-year-old patient being treated at OU Medical center died “as a result of the injuries sustained during this morning’s tragedy,” the hospital said in a statement.
Some who were injured were treated by fire and emergency personnel along the street before they were taken to hospitals.
“It felt like dozens of people, may not have been dozens of people on the ground but it felt like dozens of people,” said Paul Sims, who was at the parade with his daughter. “The first person we came across was a young woman probably in her late teens, early 20s who was on the ground who was bleeding profusely from the head.”
Gibbs, who said he had been with the Stillwater Police Department for nearly three decades, said he couldn’t “recall an incident of this magnitude,” but he added that victims were fortunate that so many emergency responders were nearby.
“Many of those entities were in the parade and on scene, so they were able to respond very quickly,” Gibbs said.
More than 80,000 people attend homecoming activities at Oklahoma State University, according to the OSU Alumni Association, but it’s unclear how many people were at the parade.








