Car crashes into school, 1 dead
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Car Crashes Into School
A car crashes into Lincoln High School, killing one.
NBC 10
A teacher’s aide died Friday when his car crashed through an entrance at Lincoln High School, police said.
Published: October 3, 2008
Updated: October 3, 2008
LINCOLN, R.I.— A teacher’s aide died Friday afternoon when his car crashed through an entrance at Lincoln High School and burst into flames, police and witnesses said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the victim. The students had been dismissed about an hour before the crash and none were reported injured.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, which startled bystanders and staff still inside the building.
“I smelled gasoline,“ said Alexandra Caluori, a teenage witness. “I looked and I saw a car in front of the school - it crashed in front - in flames.“
Carmel Mendoza, a secretary in the school’s guidance department, and who was inside the building at the time of the accident, told NBC 10 that she witnessed the car crash into the school.
Mendoza told NBC 10 that two other co-workers attempted to pull out the driver, whom Mendoza described as a special education teacher’s aide.
Mendoza told NBC 10 that a few minutes before the crash, she had seen the aide leave the building and that the aide looked distraught.
Firefighters erected tarps Friday afternoon over the hole left by the crash. School officials canceled all extracurricular activities scheduled for the afternoon and over the weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
I didn’t mean to upset anyone! I was only making a point, a point which was not intended to put blame on anyone in particular and a point that was not isolated to this incident! Believe me, I know that kids are going to find things out, from other kids, from rumors etc. My point was that there have been many instances this year alone that adults who play an important role in our kids lives have “forgotten” that they are just kids. I think we all need to be more careful about what we say in front of and to our kids! Myself included. There have been times where teachers have voiced their “dissatisfaction” with school policies or their job requirements etc. to my children and others. There have been times when teachers have talked about things happening in their home life where too much detail has been given. And times when they have been used as a “sounding board” and I just don’t think that middle school or even high school kids should be put in that situation.
It is one thing for an 11 year old to tell another 11 year that they heard an assistant teacher drove his car into the school because he was fired that day, it is another for an adult educator to tell an 11 year old that very thing!
Not trying to insult anyone or tick anyone off, just saying that we should remember that these kids are kids!
I want to touch base on placing blame onto others, about such a serious event. Teachers, coaches, and bus drivers have all been said to be at fault for informing our children about the terrible happenings. However, in my family my children were informed by ANOTHER student, a middle school student to be exact, whose parent is a firefighter in town. He picked up his cell phone while on the bus, provided to him by his parents mind you, and asked what was going on. He then informed the entire bus about what was happening at the high school. This is of no blame to any teacher, coach, or driver. Our kids will find things out on their own without an adult having to tell them. With cell phones, texting, friends or older siblings everyone was to find out one way or another.
As another bus driver, I feel the need to inform anyone with concerns what was relayed to us Friday. The only thing that I heard over my radio was from my manager that there was a serious accident at the HS and that the fire department was there and we were not going to get anywhere near the school because the road was blocked. There was no graphic explanation as to what was going on there. I myself found out what happened when I returned to the bus yard. We have some monitors that meet buses at the HS and that the drivers were not going to be able to get to them. That was it. The students on my bus didn’t hear anything more from my radio so I really don’t know where any student on a bus got the inormation as to what was happening. The bus drivers need to know if the roads we use are passable and that the radio is very much needed in these circumstances. I wish the people of Lincoln,RI would realize that most of us are parents and that many of us have children that attend school in Lincoln. We would never subject our own children or any children to what would in any way traumatize them or jeopardize their safety.
I am glad that the bus drivers were told so they could re-route, what I am saying is that as adults we need to be a little more discrete when relaying information in front of children. Saying something like “avoid passing the HS if possible” instead of “a car crashed into the HS” would have been better. I am sure there were kids on the buses that have older siblings that attend the HS.
I was not upset about it, I am concerned because our children are already growing up faster then they should be and often we, as adults, talk to some of them like they are another adult without thinking about what is being discussed. For example the details that were given to my niece by an adult teacher/coach, details that were really only speculation at the time, and details that an 11 year old did not need to hear, not from an educator anyway.
Everyone gets upset when things like this happen especially so close to home and possibly involving our children. However as a driver knowing ahead of time what was happening via our 2 way radios allowed us to be able to reroute to avoid the area all together so as to NOT upset our younger students and if it was unavoidable we are all sensitive enough to our students feelings that we let them know the EXTREME minimum and instruct them to speak to there parents
This is a most unfortunate incident. Thank god no one else was injured or killed. I have heard “I can’t beleive this happened at my school” quite a bit in the aftermath of this. Unfortunately things like this can and do happen everywhere, Lincoln, RI included. Stay vigilant, report things out of the ordinary. Its unknown if anyone could have seen this coming but the possibility exists in this and other situations.
I am a parent of a LHS graduate and 2 LMS students and I have to say that Lincoln has seen so much tragedy in the past few years. I really cannot understand what this person could have been thinking but he obviously did not have the safety of our children on his mind. I do think that it doesn’t do anyone any good to start speculating about why he was fired or starting rumors etc.
I would also like to add that my middle school kids knew that someone crashed into the high school before getting off the bus today because they heard the call come in over the “walkie” on the bus! My 11 year old niece knew the driver was deceased and that he was a TA when I got her after school because her coach, who is a teacher or coach at the High School told her all about it! I think we need to be a little more careful about how information gets relayed to our children so that we as parents are the ones to handle the feelings and thoughts that come after hearing news like this.
I’m a student at Lincoln High School. I was supposed to stay after school today. I’m so thankful that I didn’t because there would have been a possibility that I would not be writting this comment. It’s scary to go through something like this when you have to see it everyday now. I’m guled to the news 24/7 now. As everyone else, I want to find answers.
This kind of thing never happens in Lincoln. It’s a scary thing. But I guess people go “postal” all the time, and this seems to be that kind of thing. I heard the TA who was fired was having an affair with someone at the school. Unbelievable!!
I can not believe that happen at my school. The good thing is that everyone was OK.
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