DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Students and school officials at Ivy Preparatory Academy in DeKalb County experienced some scary moments after a car crashed into their building on Monday.
“I’m not sure what was on his mind, I do know that he ran into a classroom of students and that’s something that’s just uncalled for,” added Charcia Nichols, Head of School as she described the moments the crash happened.
“We heard screaming and the children running and we ran to the classroom and we saw a car that was actually inside the classroom,” Nichols went on.
According to DeKalb Fire officials, it happened around 10:30 a.m. The 5th-grade class where the incident happened had about 22 students inside and several of them along with the driver had to be transported to the hospital.
“No students were trapped under cars or anything like that, but we did have three juvenile students who were injured. A lot of times when a vehicle enters a structure we want to make sure one is up under the vehicle and in this particular case the driver was inside of the vehicle and he was entrapped and we were able to get him out,” said Caption Jaeson Daniels with DeKalb Fire.
The incident is still under investigation and police have not confirmed what caused the drivers to go into the building or if there was any malicious intent, but as the investigation continues Ivy Preparatory Academy officials and students remain in shock.
“I couldn’t believe it my first thing was to ensure all the schoolers were OK. Our team went right into our crisis mode,” added Nichols.
Officials said one positive that came out of the situation is they know the safety procedures they have in place worked and they were promptly able to contact parents and the police. The students are also expected to make a full recovery.
School officials said a hotline is being set up for families who have questions and crisis counselors are available for students. The school will operate on a virtual schedule for the rest of the week repairs take place. Students are expected to return to in-person learning on Monday, Nov. 14.