Girl killed, several injured in Lake Worth parking lot
LAKE WORTH, Aug 05, 2012 (Menafn - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --A 7-year-old girl killed Saturday afternoon when a pickup plowed into her and several others in a Lake Worth shopping center parking lot was identified as Savannah Degear of Fort Worth, according to an official at the Tarrant County medical examiner's office on Sunday.
Savannah was taken by air ambulance from the parking lot and died a short time later at a Fort Worth hospital.
Several other people were seriously injured.
Don Price, public information officer with the Lake Worth Police Department, said police were called to the 6500 block of Lake Worth Avenue at 1:41 p.m.
Price said two adults, ages 20 and 40, and two children were struck in a parking lot in front of the Ross department store. The driver's truck continued to the front of a nearby Target where two other children were hit. The truck crashed into two cars before coming to a stop.
Fort Worth resident Paul Ruhl was sitting in one of the cars.
Ruhl said he had just dropped off family members in front of the Target and had pulled into a parking space.
"I didn't even have a chance to turn off my ignition," Ruhl said. "The truck landed on top of my car, the real wheel was in my passenger window."
Ruhl, who was uninjured, said a little girl hit by the truck was thrown on to the windshield of his car. When he got out to help, he said he saw another little girl on the ground who apparently had been hit.
"Her dad ran over, picked her up and took her into the Target where it was cool," Ruhl said, referring to the girl who had hit his windshield. "Everybody was hysterical. The dad and the little girl's mom, I felt so sorry for them."
Flo Hannan, a Lake Worth resident, said the front of the store was chaotic and people were hysterical when she went to the check-out counter to pay for her purchases.
"A lot of people, customers and store employees, were running around crying," Hannan said. "I saw a little girl lying there. They were working on her ... I hugged my granddaughter, she is about that age."
Hannan said she took her granddaughter to the back of the store to protect her from the horrific scene.
"I took my time shopping so she wouldn't have to see it," she said. "Then I came outside and found out my van had been hit" by the pickup.
Hannan said her van was parked next to Ruhl's car.
"The gentleman driving the truck seemed to be okay but he looked distraught," she said.
Price said the 82-year-old driver of the truck was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. His condition was unknown late Saturday.
"An officer went down there so we could determine if it was medical," Price said. "Right now we don't know what caused this. The doctors are still running tests."
Price said police will await test results before making a determination about whether any charges will be filed.
The 7-year-old girl was taken by air ambulance to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and was pronounced dead a short time later, Price said.
He said the other children ranged in age from 7 to 12. Matt Zavadsky, director of public affairs with MedStar, said all the children were taken to Cook Children's with non-life threatening injuries.
No other details of the investigation were available late Saturday.
Susan McFarland, 817-390-7684
Twitter: @susanmcfarland1
___ (c)2012 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Visit the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at
www.star-telegram.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
Copyright (C) 2012, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
