Tampa police: Speeding car hits 7 people, including five kids

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Five children and two adults are expected to recover after being hit by a car in the north Tampa area Thursday morning.

Making matters worse, an ambulance responding to that scene was itself involved in a crash a few blocks away.

According to Tampa police, all of the victims were waiting at a school bus stop around 8 a.m. when a vehicle came speeding eastbound on Bougainvillea Avenue. The car struck five children and two adults. Five were transported to a nearby hospital, where one child was in critical condition. 

"I run out the door and, as I'm running down the street, I'm seeing them laid out on the side of the road," said Lakrisha Wilcox, whose two children were also at the bus stop and somehow avoided the accident. "Just by the grace of God nothing that happened to my kids, but I also pray and send my condolences out to the family of kids that was involved in this accident."

The kids range in age from 6 to 12. All attend Carter G. Woodson K-8, several miles away from the crash scene. All of the victims are expected to survive.

A family friend of two of the children who were hit rushed to the scene.

"They were just trick-or-treating hours ago and now they're fighting for their lives because someone didn't want to slow down, was in a hurry," said Tom Cunneen. "You need to slow down. You've got innocent kids out here. I don't care what you're in a hurry for, it's not worth taking an innocent life."

Several emergency vehicles are on the scene and the intersection remains blocked off. The driver is being questioned by police.

"Right now, we're trying to figure out what his mindset was," Chief Brian Dugan explained from the scene. "We don't know if he was intoxicated; we don't know if it was truly an accident. We do have his car and we do have him detained at the scene."

Nearby, an ambulance headed to the crash scene was involved in a separate crash. The view from SkyFOX showed an ambulance had struck a utility pole after apparently colliding with a sedan in the intersection of Bougainvillea and Nebraska.

The ambulance driver was knocked unconscious and a Tampa Fire lieutenant was injured. Both were transported to the hospital for observation and treatment, along with the driver of the car that hit them. 

Tampa police are investigating that crash.