SUV crash that killed 4, hurt 6 at after-school camp doesn't appear to be targeted: Police
An Illinois community is reeling after an SUV drove into an after-school camp, killing four girls, but police said the crash does not appear to be targeted.
The driver struck the YNOT After School Camp building in Chatham, just outside of Springfield, on Monday afternoon, killing 7-year-old Alma Buhnerkempe, 7-year-old Kathryn Corley, 8-year-old Ainsley Johnson and 18-year-old Rylee Britton, according to the Sangamon County Coroner's Office.
Billie Buhnerkempe, the mom of 7-year-old Alma, said in a statement that her daughter "was a ray of sunshine."
"She was sweet, outgoing, silly, and funny. She loved her friends and family fiercely. She loved playing soccer, basketball, and doing gymnastics. She loved to travel, and went to 17 states in her short life," Buhnerkempe said. "Her brother Will has autism, and she loved and supported him the only way a big sister could."
All four victims died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the coroner.
Six children were injured and taken to hospitals, including one who remains in critical condition, the Illinois State Police said Tuesday.
According to camp founder Jamie Loftus, the SUV drove through a farm field before hitting the east wall of the camp building. The SUV then exited the building on the west side, went across a gravel road and became lodged against a power pole and baseball field fence, Loftus said.
The driver, 44-year-old Marianne Akers of Chatham, is not in custody, police said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but police said it didn't appear to be targeted.
Akers -- who was the only person in the vehicle -- wasn't hurt, police said.
"I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print," Loftus said in a statement. "However, I do know that our families who suffered loss and injury today, are hurting very, very badly. They are friends and their kids are like our kids. The Village of Chatham and Ball Chatham Schools are going to need their populations and that of the outside world to love them, pray for them, think of them."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, "Our community lost a group of bright and innocent young people with their whole lives ahead of them."
"Parents said goodbye to their kids this morning not knowing it would be the last time," he said in a statement. "My heart is heavy for these families and the unimaginable grief they're experiencing -- something that no parent should ever have to endure."
ABC News' Kerem Inal contributed to this report.
