Classmates and school officials remember an 11-year-old Fremont boy Tuesday after he was hit and killed by an SUV while walking home from school.
The crash happened on Military Ave, blocks from the Johnson Crossing Academic Center, where sicth grader Andrew Perez-Martinez was struck and killed while trying to cross this street.
Martinez was hit by a 16-year-old driver.
"The driver tried to brake and stop before striking the pedestrian, so we do know that he had some sought before it occurred,” said Lt. Glenn Still. “He tried to stop but he just didn't have enough time."
Lt. Still says they're early in the investigation, but he does not refer to the SUV driver who struck and killed Perez Martinez as a 'suspect.'
“The driver, I'm sure he feels bad about what happened and we have to think about them too,” Glenn said.
While charges have not been filed, that doesn't mean they can't be.
“We have some witness statements we're still trying to get interviewed, and some more investigation to do, initially it appears to be just an accident,” Still said.
Neither Lt Still nor Martinez’s principal Brent Harrell can remember a time when a Fremont student walking home from school was killed.
“It's very unusual,” Harrell said. “We haven't had a situation like this in my time in Fremont, and it's very tragic with the amount of kids that we have walking home, and such a safe environment that something like this would happen.”
Harrell said he's in close contact with family and says students and faculty are mourning the loss of the 11-year-old.
“Andrew was a great kid, always happy go lucky, always had a great attitude,” Harrell said. “He was a leader. He'd walk in and just light up the room with his smile, a very, very funny kid, but on the academic side, top student.”
Fremont police say the investigation is young because there are several witnesses they have identified, but haven't talked to yet.
