Neighbors call for change after 15-year-old hit, killed by bus
A 15-year-old boy was hit and killed by a school bus early Tuesday morning while trying to cross the street on a bicycle, according to the Lakeland Police Department.
Officers responded just before 7 a.m. to the area of Pipkin Road and White Egret Lane on reports of a crash involving someone on a bike. Once on scene, police reportedly found an "unresponsive male," later identified as the teen, who had been hit by a Schools of McKeel Academy school bus.
Crews with the police department arrived on the scene, along with Polk County Fire Rescue and the Lakeland Fire Department, where life-saving measures started.
The teen, identified on GoFundMe as Jaxon Crabtree, was taken to Lakeland Regional Health where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
According to Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor, Crabtree was apparently riding his bike to school when the crash happened. It seems as though he was trying to move from the highway's turning lane into the inside lane where the bus was traveling westbound.
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"This is a horrific accident that occurred this morning," Taylor said Tuesday afternoon. "Obviously, 20 days before Christmas makes it even worse."
The 71-year-old woman driving the bus wasn't speeding and stopped immediately, he said. She wasn't hurt in the crash.
There were reportedly eight passengers on the bus at the time of the crash, all ranging from ages 8-11. They were all students who attended South McKeel Academy and McKeel Academy Central.
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