Cook County Forest Preserves Police are investigating after a vehicle driven by an 89-year-old woman drove into six people who had been at Schiller Woods Sunday to enjoy the warm but windy weather, according to spokesmen from Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Chicago Fire Department.
The driver also was injured and some of the six pedestrians were in serious-to-critical condition, although none suffered injuries considered life-threatening, according to Carl Vogel, a spokesman for the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
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The woman had been parked in a parking lot at Schiller Woods around 6:50 p.m., when, for an unknown reason, the vehicle she was in proceeded forward, running over and striking people as it moved slowly into the path of picnic-goers, officials said. As of Monday morning, it remained unclear whether the situation was accidental.
Larry Langford, chief spokesman for the Fire Department, said the agency initiated an EMS Plan 1 — which automatically sends at least five ambulances to a scene, in this case to the park near Irving Park Road at Cumberland Avenue — at 6:55 p.m.
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“There was an elderly driver operating a car who had a possible medical situation or slipped the car into the wrong gear, but the car rolled into several people in a group. We had five of six transports, Schiller Park (Fire) had one,” he said.
A total of four adults were in “red” condition, which means serious-to-critical condition, but Langford also said he had been told there were not life-threatening injuries. One person was in fair condition and another was in good condition. Those injured were taken to four area hospitals.
“No one was crushed or run over by wheels or anything,” Langford said. “It’s not thought that the car was traveling at any great speed.”
Vogel did not say whether the crash had been determined to be accidental. He said additional information was expected to be released later Monday.
