6th grade student hit by car while crossing street to North Huntingdon school

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — A Hillcrest Intermediate sixth-grade student was hit by a car when crossing a street this morning.

First responders were called to Mockingbird Drive, where the school is located, around 7:45 a.m. for reports of a pedestrian accident.

Neighbors were in shock Friday afternoon.

“Just total shock, because this has never happened before,” said Melissa Hredocik.

“It’s terrifying,” added Don Bodnar.

Bodnar and Hredocik both live right next door to the boy, who was hit by a car early Friday morning when he was walking across the street to school. Bodnar’s wife heard it happen but didn’t know what was going on.

“Oh, a lot of yelling and screaming,” Bodnar recalled. “So, she thought it might just be a fight between two kids or something but it ended up being someone being hit.”

North Huntingdon Police and the EMS Rescue got on scene around 7:45 a.m. and quickly started to treat the boy.

“He had some injuries that required some medical attention. We were able to get him stabilized and taken to the [Children’s] hospital pretty quickly,” said Shane Spielvogel, Director of North Huntingdon EMS Rescue.

Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek spoke with the boy’s mother on Facebook Messenger. She said River is stable and they don’t have “any additional information to provide at the moment as we await a more thorough investigation from the North Huntingdon Police Department.”

She continued to say, “we are hopeful that the outcome of the investigation will help to address the ongoing issues regarding vehicle speed and pedestrian safety on Mockingbird Drive.”

Police are still working to piece together how this accident happened, but neighbors agree with the concerns of speeding and pedestrian safety, especially as there is also a sign that notes there is someone who is blind living in the area.

“They need to slow down,” Hredocik said. “There are so many schools around. People just need to drive slower.”

“What I wish is that the police would pay attention to the speed limit, and maybe set a trap now and then when people are coming down, and maybe that would curtail this kind of situation,” Bodnar added.

The school district says it is monitoring the situation, asking for prayers, and has counselors on hand.

North Huntingdon police are investigating this crash. We’ll bring you any new updates as we learn them.

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