The small town of Parachute, Colorado is in shock after an 11-year-old was killed while running for her school bus.
As per truly tragic reports, the young girl was running in an attempt to catch the bus, when she tripped and fell under the moving vehicle.
On Friday, the 11-year-old was identified as Annaliese Backner, a sixth grader at Grand Valley Middle school in Parachute.
Brad Ray, superintendent for Garfield County School District 16, spoke during a press conference and described the event as a “sad day for all”.
“Today is a sad day for all,” he said.
“It’s a sad day for schools, it’s a sad day for our community, and it’s sad day tonight in households,” said Ray. “Our primary responsibility moving forward is to honor the families privacy and care for our students during this tragic loss”.
Annaliese, whose family requested that her photo and identity be released to the public, died at the scene after falling under the wheels of the bus.
Parachute Police and Grand Valley Fire were praised for their quick response, but couldn’t do anything to save the young girl.
11-year-old Annaliese’s tragic death is currently being investigated as an accident, while the cause of death has been preliminary labeled as blunt force trauma.
The coroner expects that a final autopsy report will be published sometime within the next several weeks.
Rest in peace, little girl. Our hearts go out to her family at this most terrible of times.