BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) – High school students grieved at a northwest Washington candlelight vigil after an SUV earlier jumped a curb and plowed into a group of teens out for a gym class walk, killing two boys and seriously injuring two others.
About 30 students from Windward High School in Ferndale, north of Bellingham, were out walking with a teacher Wednesday afternoon when the vehicle left the road and hit the four teens, who were on a sidewalk, Trooper Mark Francis said.
The 34-year-old driver, identified as William Klein of Bellingham, was arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, Francis said. The man had his 3-year-old son with him; neither was injured.
The driver initially said he fell asleep at the wheel but later told a drug recognition expert he had used drugs, Francis said.
“The expert also observed signs of impairment,” the trooper said. He would not discuss what drug or drugs were mentioned.