COURTLAND
A prekindergarten student died Friday morning after being struck by a bus at Riverdale Elementary School in Southampton County, according to school officials.
Superintendent Charles Turner called the death "a tragedy for Southampton County Public Schools" and said crisis counselors would be available to students. The four-year-old boy was identified as Jameer Khamarie Woodley in an obituary notice in The Virginian-Pilot.
"We're investigating," Turner told reporters early Friday afternoon. "I'm trying to get information.
"Our hearts and thoughts are with the family."
Sgt. Michelle Cotten, State Police spokeswoman, referred all questions to the Southampton County Sheriff's Office, which is handling the investigation. The sheriff's office did not return several calls seeking comment Friday.
Riverdale Elementary is a new school with about 600 students, Turner said. The school division sent parents an alert via phone about the death.
At the front entrance, representatives of the school division and sheriff's office guarded the door to keep out the media.
Laura Galtress was one of several parents who came by to pick up their children before the end of the school day. The stay-at-home mother said she wanted to have her two young boys close to her as soon as she heard the news. Her sons are in third grade and kindergarten.
"It hurts really bad. I know that they're very cautious," Galtress said of the school's staff. But "it makes you want to bring them to school yourself."
She described the atmosphere inside the school as "really emotional."
"I think at this point everybody's just kind of in shock," Galtress said.
Deborah Holmes shook her head as she leaned against her car in the school's parking lot. She couldn't come up with words to describe how she was feeling. Her granddaughter, 10-year-old Tekenya Bradshaw, said she and a couple of other students saw the accident.
Holmes beckoned Tekenya to stand near her. Then she pulled her close for a hug, her right arm wrapped around the girl for at least a minute.
Pilot staff writer Patrick Wilson contributed to this report.
Hattie Brown Garrow, (757) 222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com
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riverdale elementary
Words cannot ever take the pain from the family of that cute little boy. Being a bus driver myself I can never imagine doing something like this. What I do not understand......why is it so hush hush how it happened? There have been times that bus drivers did things that were not this intense and they were all over the news. Maybe the school needs to look in to how they unload their students. A 4 year old should be dropped off at the ramp and not allowed to walk across the parking lot. Yes I understand that there is more to this than what we know, but until all is public, as a mother and bus driver, I would have to draw my own conclusions. As for the family, may God be with you during your loss. My deepest sympathy.
How sad..
I can't imagine what the family of the little one is going through right now. This is absolutely un-comprehendable. My thoughts and prayers go out to them in their time of need right now. May God Bless you.
:(
My condolences to the parents/family of the child. I can't imagine how they handled the news that a person charged with the safe passage of children (accidently?) took the life of one.