Teacher killed in crash after man fled in car from ICE, police say

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(NYT) — A public schoolteacher was killed Monday when a man fleeing immigration agents in Savannah, Georgia, crashed a car into the teacher’s vehicle, according to local police.

Shortly before 7:45 a.m., agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement were trying to pull over the man, Oscar Vasquez Lopez, 38, according to the Chatham County Police Department.

Originally from Guatemala, Lopez was issued a final order of removal by a federal judge in 2024, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officers were trying to apprehend him in Savannah when he “fled the scene, making a reckless U-turn and running a red light, colliding into a civilian vehicle,” according to a statement by the agency.

The crash occurred outside a public school, Herman W. Hesse K-8 School, which serves about 1,000 students, police said. There were no classes Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday, but it was a planning day for teachers, according to the school’s website.

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