Student Fatally Struck While Waiting for School Bus

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — A 6-year-old student here has died after being struck by a vehicle while waiting for her school bus on Friday, officials said.

The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office said in a news release, obtained by Lancaster County School District's Safety and Transportation department, that the incident occurred at around 6:30 a.m. when a student, identified as Jerrnia Horne, was waiting at a school bus stop on Highway 521 in Pleasant Hill. Horne was reportedly waiting at the bus stop with her grandmother, and the bus had not yet arrived, according to a statement posted on Facebook from Bryan Vaughn, the director of safety and transportation for Lancaster County School District.

Authorities told WSOC that a 39-year-old woman was driving the pickup truck, and that Horne walked out into the street before she was struck. Beatrice Mayson, Horne’s grandmother, told the news source that she was holding her granddaughter’s hand when she saw the pickup truck coming and tried calling her name. Horne was transported to a local hospital and subsequently airlifted to another, where she succumbed to her injuries, according to the news release from the Coroner’s Office.

Lancaster County School District reportedly reviewed video footage from days before the incident and spoke with the bus driver, who said the family usually waited for the bus and then crossed the street to meet it when it arrived, WSOC reports. However, authorities told the news source that the morning of the accident, they were at the bus stop about seven minutes before the bus arrived and decided to cross the street earlier than usual.

On Saturday, Vaughn said in a statement, posted on Lancaster County School District's Safety and Transportation's Facebook page, that school personnel from around the district will be ready to assist and provide support to Health Springs Elementary School where Horne was a student.

The incident is currently being investigated by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.