Witnesses have recalled the heartbreaking words spoken by a Kansas mother moments after her pickup truck drove through a youth soccer field, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man while leaving 10 others injured.
On October 17, families had gathered at Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex for an afternoon of youth soccer. Among them was Erica Case, who was watching her 9-year-old son play on a nearby field when the sound of a revving engine suddenly interrupted the afternoon.
Case turned toward the noise and saw a pickup truck speeding across the sports complex.
“I saw the truck hitting things. I saw debris flying in the air,” Case told NBC News.
“I don’t know if it was a cone, a chair or a person, but you could see matter flying as the truck was barreling through the soccer field at a decent rate of speed.”
David Griekspoor, who had arrived to watch his nephew play, also witnessed the horrifying incident.
“It sounded like small gunfire,” Griekspoor recalled, describing the noise as “Bap, bap, bap.”
“You look up, and you just see the truck going through a line of people,” he added.
Case said she was overwhelmed with horror when she finally understood what was happening.
“The moment that I recognized that that wasn’t gunshots, that that was bodies, I lost it,” she said. “I lost it because it wasn’t just adults. It was also children.”
Two Killed, 10 Injured
As emergency responders rushed to the scene, spectators were already attempting to help those who had been struck by the pickup truck. Several of the injured were young children.
Case later praised the people who immediately stepped forward to assist the victims, describing them as silent heroes.
“There are a lot of silent heroes that I know experienced much worse than I did, having to do mouth-to-mouth or CPR on somebody that’d been ran over by a truck,” she said.
According to Wichita police, 6-year-old Cole Adrian and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both from McPherson, Kansas, died from their injuries.
Schafer was a father of three. He and young Cole were not related.
Another 10 people suffered injuries, with their ages ranging from 5 to 68. Among them were two 5-year-olds, two 8-year-olds, and a 9-year-old.
As families struggled to understand the devastating incident, investigators began examining how a pickup truck had entered a field crowded with children and spectators.
Kids in Car When It Crashed
Investigators said the Chevrolet pickup had initially been parked in a parking space near the soccer fields before driving onto one of the fields and striking multiple children and adults.
Behind the wheel was a 34-year-old Wichita mother. According to ABC News, she had one child playing soccer on another field at the complex, while two other children were inside the vehicle when the crash occurred.
Authorities later confirmed that the driver had been released while investigators awaited the results of toxicology testing and a mechanical examination of the vehicle.
Police stated:
“Released pending the results of toxicology testing and a mechanical examination of the vehicle. No charges have been filed at this time, and investigators continue working to determine the circumstances that led to the crash.”
The tragedy has left the families of those killed and injured devastated. Witnesses have also been struggling with the frightening memories of an afternoon that was supposed to be filled with children’s soccer games and family gatherings.
‘Our Hearts Are With the Families’
Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan acknowledged the pain caused by the incident in a statement expressing condolences to the victims’ families and recognizing the efforts of those who rushed to help.
“Our hearts are with the families of Adrian and Nicholas as they face an unimaginable loss. What should have been a day of children playing soccer and families spending time together ended in tragedy,” Sullivan said.
“We are also thinking about those who were injured, their loved ones and everyone who witnessed what happened,” he continued.
“We know this tragedy has affected many people throughout our community, and we want those families to know they are not alone.”
Mother’s Haunting Words
Amid the confusion and panic that followed the crash, witnesses also recalled the disturbing moment involving the woman behind the wheel.
As bystanders rushed to help the injured and assist the driver in getting out of her pickup truck, they reportedly heard her repeatedly expressing shock over what had happened.
According to the New York Post, witnesses recalled the mother shouting:
“Oh my God, Oh my God, what have I done?”
The words reportedly captured the shock and confusion surrounding the immediate aftermath of the devastating incident.
What began as an ordinary afternoon of youth soccer ended in an unimaginable tragedy, leaving two families grieving and an entire community searching for answers.
Our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones and everyone affected by this heartbreaking incident. Please share your condolences and thoughts for the victims and their families.
