A woman was charged after three young siblings were killed and a fourth child was seriously injured after being struck by her pickup truck Tuesday morning as they boarded a school bus in northern Indiana.
Officers responded about 7:15 p.m. to the crash near the 4600 block of North State Road 25 in rural Rochester, according to Indiana State Police.
Investigators learned the bus driver had stopped in front of a mobile home park to pick up children from the west side of the road, state police said. As the children crossed the roadway to get onto the bus, four of them were struck by a southbound 2017 Toyota Tacoma.
Xzavier and Mason Ingle, twin 6-year-old brothers, and Alivia Stahl, their 9-year-old sister, were all pronounced dead at the scene, state police said.
An 11-year-old boy was also seriously injured in the crash, state police said. He was airlifted to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was being treated for multiple broken bones and internal injuries.
At 4:09 p.m., authorities arrested 24-year-old Alyssa L. Shepherd at her job in Rochester, state police said.
Shepherd, who lives in rural Rochester, was charged with three felony counts of reckless homicide and a misdemeanor count of passing a school bus with the stop arm extended and causing injury, state police said. She is being held at Fulton County Jail on a $15,000 surety bond.
The Ingle twins and their sister attended Mentone Elementary School in Mentone, Indiana, while the 11-year-old attends Tippecanoe Valley Middle School in Akron, Indiana, state police said.
Counselors have been made available to staff, students and parents in the school district, officials said.
