4 killed when a car crashes through Illinois after-school center

Four people, all of them children or teenagers, were killed and several others were injured Monday when a car crashed through an after-school center in Chatham, Illinois, a village just south of Springfield, Illinois State Police said.

The car struck three of the victims outside the building and the fourth inside around 3:20 p.m., police said. Several others were taken to the hospital, and at least one person was airlifted, authorities said.

The victims were two 7-year-olds, an 8-year-old, and an 18-year-old, the State Police said Tuesday morning. Their names were not released.

Six other children were taken to hospitals, with one in critical condition, police said.

The driver, whom authorities have not publicly identified, was not injured and was undergoing an evaluation at the hospital Monday evening, the State Police said. No one else was in the vehicle, police said.

Toxicology reports are pending, police said. “The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” they said in a statement.

Officers with the Chatham Police Department, the Chatham Fire Department and other agencies responded to a call Monday afternoon of a vehicle being driven into a YNOT After School Camp, State Police said.

According to police, the driver hit the east side of the building, striking people outside and then continued driving through the building, hitting people inside before exiting on the west side.

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