11-year-old hurt in Gurnee middle school crash

An 11-year-old boy was injured Wednesday afternoon after a vehicle struck the north entrance of Woodland Middle School in Gurnee, according to officials.

Gurnee Fire Department Lt. Andy Wienckowski said firefighters arrived at 3:50 p.m. and found the boy pinned underneath a minivan that had crashed backward into the school at 7000 Washington St. He said it took about 4 minutes to free the boy.

The boy was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with nonlife-threatening injuries, Wienckowski said. He heard the boy is doing “very well” and being treated for some abrasions and minor burns.

Wienckowski said the driver of the vehicle, a passenger of the vehicle and a bystander were seen by paramedics. None of them was transported to a hospital, he said.

District 50 Superintendent Joy Swoboda said the boy is an incoming sixth-grader at the school. She said he was leaving the school when he was struck by the vehicle.

In a news release, district officials said the driver mistook the gas pedal for the brake and drove into the school. Swoboda said the minivan was driven by a vendor who was delivering band uniforms.

Cmdr. Jay Patrick of the Gurnee Police Department said the driver was a 67-year-old man from Mount Prospect. He said the man was issued a citation under local ordinance for negligence while driving.

The accident remains under investigation, according to Patrick.

District officials said a crisis team made up of social workers and psychologists has been set up to provide support to anyone who witnessed the event.

“It was a pretty busy time here,” Swoboda said, noting that the school's annual proof of residency event was going on at the time of the accident.

The event, which was scheduled to run until 8 p.m. Wednesday, was canceled along with marching band practice. Families will have a chance to attend the proof of residency event, where they can get class schedules, pay fees and pick up information about the upcoming school year, from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Two of the four rectangular doors at the entrance of the school were missing Wednesday evening. A third door and the frame of the entrance was bent.

Classes are set to resume in two weeks and district officials said the accident will not affect the opening of school.

• Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.