A 15-year-old Greeley student was killed and two other students injured Tuesday morning in the northwest part of town when the car they were in moved into the path of a school bus, officials said.
Karla Mendoza-Gonzalez, a student at Northridge High School, was in the back seat of the Chrysler Cirrus four-door sedan that was hit by the bus at 7:17 a.m., said Joe Tymkowych, spokesman for the Greeley Police Department. Her brother Francisco, 16, was driving the car. He and the other passenger, Nehimiah Pizarro, 14, were taken to North Colorado Medical Center and were expected to recover.
Roger Fiedler, spokesman for Weld County School District 6, said a crisis team visited with students at North ridge.
Tymkowych said the bus, which was picking up students in northwest Greeley to take them to Eaton schools, was traveling eastbound about 35 mph on West F Street when the car exited the Stoneybrook Mobile Home Park and turned left in front of the bus.
The bus, with a dozen students on board, hit the car, said Tymkowych.
No one on the bus was taken to a hospital, Tymkowych said, although one student was reported to have a sprained wrist.
Randy Miller, superintendent for the Eaton School District, said seven students on the bus were picked up at the crash scene by their parents. The rest went to school.
The bus was impounded by investigators. The driver, Christine Walls, said the Cirrus had stopped at a stop sign before pulling out in front of her.
“That’s tough,” said Miller. “We were really fortunate” that the students on the bus were not seriously injured.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
