A University of Delaware freshman who had just finished her first day of classes was struck and killed by a speeding motorcyclist fleeing a traffic stop, police said.
The 18-year-old student from New Jersey, who hasn’t been named publicly, was mowed down in front of her friends and classmates near the college campus in Newark just before midnight on Tuesday.
The motorcyclist crashed into her at a “high rate of speed” just one minute after an officer had tried to pull the rider over for various traffic offenses, cops said.
The officer wasn’t pursuing the motorcyclist at the time of the tragedy and had turned off his emergency lights when the rider sped off, police added.
Bystanders frantically tried to save the first-year student but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The rider, who was tossed from the motorcycle, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated in a nearby hospital.
Four other pedestrians were also injured when the bike careened across the sidewalk in the aftermath, police said.
Three of them endured minor injures, while the fourth suffered more severe but non-life-threatening injuries.
University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis said the tragedy unfolded in front of the victim’s friends and classmates.
“Incidents such as this are unimaginably tragic. We cannot express enough how sorry we are for the family, friends, and greater community as we are all so deeply shaken by the sudden loss of one of our own. Our hearts are very heavy today,” Assanis said in a statement.
“At this time, we are not releasing the student’s name out of respect for the family’s privacy. Especially in a moment like this, we must all come together, to lean on each other, and to do so with extra kindness and empathy.”
The rider hasn’t been charged but cops said they are still probing the fatal incident.
