Edmonton police say a 13-year-old boy was killed in a hit and run in the city’s southeast early Wednesday morning.
Sgt. Richard Windover with the Edmonton Police Service said the teen was on a bicycle on 34th Avenue when he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene.
It happened around 4 a.m. between Mill Woods Road and 48th Street, on the eastbound lanes of 34th Avenue.
Windover said emergency crews were called to the scene by a passerby and found the boy had been injured. The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
Police are still piecing together exactly what happened, but Windover said the driver who hit the cyclist did not stay at the scene.
“It is believed that the involved vehicle did leave the scene east on 34th Avenue,” he said. “In this case, somebody did flee the scene after the collision occurred. For whatever reason, at this time we don’t know why they left.”
The suspect vehicle has been identified as a blue 2014-2018 Mazda 3 sedan or hatchback. The suspect vehicle incurred damage to its front end and driver side, the Edmonton Police Service said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
Those who live in the area were saddened to learn of the boy’s death.
“It’s terrible to hear something like that. Such a young age,” said Marco Masi, who has lived in the area for nearly seven years.
“It’s kind of traumatizing, right? To know that someone so young can die so suddenly.”
Kathleen Lewanczuk doesn’t live nearby, but is in the neighbourhood often helping a sick friend.
“Absolutely tragic,” she said. “Imagine the parents having the police come to their door?
“My heart goes out to them. Look at how their lives changed in seconds.”
Lewanczuk said unfortunately, things like this can happen anywhere.
“They’re not just in Mill Woods. I live in Old Strathcona. There have been people killed on Whyte Avenue by vehicles. It’s not just here,” she said.
“Why would they leave? If I hit someone, even in the middle of the night, I’d freak out and I’d get out of my vehicle to see if I could help them and I’d phone 911. What is wrong with people?”
The EPS major collision investigation unit has taken over the investigation. Police closed 34th Avenue in both directions between Mill Woods Road and 48th Street on Wednesday morning. The avenue was open to traffic around noon.
“It is a fairly large area and we want to make sure that we document all of the information from the scene because once it’s been released there’s nothing we can do to go back and collect that information,” Windover said.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the suspect vehicle or its driver is asked to contact police.
Investigators are also asking anyone driving through the Mill Woods area that has dash camera footage of the collision and/or the suspect vehicle leaving the scene to contact EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
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