Fresno student hit by truck on way to school

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A 15-year-old Fresno student died after being hit by a truck on his way to school Monday morning.

Eric Galindo was struck right in front of his school moments before classes began at Pershing Continuation High School near Nielsen and Tielman Avenues in West Central Fresno.

Witnesses said the teen tried to get up after the collision before help arrived. Since Central Unified was on a foggy day schedule, Eric Galindo was right on time for class when he was fatally hurt.

The bike, a shoe and other personal items littered the street where Fresno Police detectives collected evidence Monday.

So far, officers have few facts about what led to the fatal crash.

"The only thing we know for sure at this point is that it appears the vehicle and the bicycle were both traveling eastbound on Nielsen," Anthony Dewall of the Fresno Police Department said.

Officers were also taking statements from a few people who witnessed the accident, along with the driver of the truck. Investigators say it's unclear whose to blame for the crash.

For several hours after the collision, the police department's major accident investigation team drew diagrams and collected clues at the scene.

Right now they are taking measurements to determine how fast the vehicle was traveling, where the bicycle was on the roadway, was it on the right hand edge or was it in the middle. There's construction in the area and the normal traffic lanes for Nielsen have been adjusted over to the south slightly.

Even though the accident happened right in front of the school, students were told about their classmates death at the end of the day. Central Unified Superintendent Mike Berg says the district let teachers know about the accident right away and also reached out to the injured student's family.

"Our thoughts and prayers are out to the family for their loss and we have counseling there with the student as well as a school administrator there with the parent to help them through this time," Central Unified Superintendent Mike Berg said.

Since the road isn't heavily traveled, officers are working to find out whether the bicyclist or truck driver saw the other before they collided.

Get more Local »

fresno, fresno county, accident, local, sontaya rose

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•