2 school-aged children in critical condition after being hit by an SUV

SALT LAKE CITY — Two school-aged children remain in critical condition after they were hit by a car in Salt Lake City.

The incident happened near 400 South and 1040 West around 8 a.m. Monday.

Police said the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee was heading eastbound on 400 South while the kids were crossing northbound.

Investigators have not released the ages of the children or said whether they were heading to school.

Two school-aged children in critical condition after they were hit by an SUV along 400 S this morning. Police say driver is cooperating. They’re asking the public to avoid 400 S between 1000 W and Goshen St. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/dfSDx7Ifxy

— Sean Moody (@SeanMoodyPhoto) September 20, 2021

“I couldn’t believe it, like, something like this could happen,” said Mark Brocksmith, who lives right along 400 South where the crash happened. “There are people that just bolt down the street.”

“This is something that shouldn’t of happened,” said Larry Martinez, who lives near the victims.

He said there used to be a painted cross walk at Goshen Street where the incident happened.

“There was an actual cross walk here. Then, they redone the road a little over a month ago and all the lines have been painted in, except for the cross walks,” said Martinez.

Officials with the Salt Lake City Streets Division told KSL-TV that they were in the process of repainting the lines, but had not gotten to it yet.

They did, however, have flags available for residents to use at Goshen Street, but neighbors believe the crosswalk lines should have been a priority.

“You can go a half mile in any direction and there’s no cross walk and there are several intersections,” said Brocksmith.

Police said the driver is cooperating with the investigation and that they’re looking into the possibility that he was impaired when he hit the children.

“This is very early stages of the investigation. Our investigators will sort out the details as far as what exactly happened here,” said Sgt. Mark Wian with the Salt Lake City Police Department. “We are still continuing to sort out the details of what happened.”

Residents hope and pray the children are going to be okay.

“We’ve got to pray for them and ask God to give them another chance. Live is short and we always got to remember to hug our kids,” said Martinez.

Later in the afternoon, Salt Lake City spokesperson Lindsey Nikola told KSL-TV that crews were brought in to paint cross walk lines across 400 South following the incident.

Her statement reads in full:

“This morning’s incident is a tragedy that no parent or child should ever have to endure, and our thoughts and prayers are with the children and their families during this unthinkable time.

The full scope of information related to this incident is still under investigation, and we are awaiting those facts and details before drawing conclusions. The City took immediate steps today to paint a crosswalk at the intersection and anticipate in the days and weeks ahead we will work both internally and with the community to determine safety measures we can put in place to help prevent a tragedy like this from occurring in the future.”

Salt Lake City taking immediate steps to paint crosswalk at 400 S & 1040 W after two kids are hit by a SUV. 400 S had been paved recently and the crosswalk lines were covered up. Hear what city is saying @KSL5TV at 6 pic.twitter.com/JHUXTjXchA

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) September 20, 2021