Police car strikes 11-year-old girl in Cranbrook, B.C.

A policeman patrolling outside a teen dance party at Cranbrook, B.C. Middle School ran down an 11-year-old student. The girl has been flown to Children's Hospital where her condition is stable.

CRANBROOK, B.C. - Investigators face the key question of whether a policeman was driving without due care and attention when he ran down an 11-year-old schoolgirl near a junior secondary school. The officer was patrolling in the area of Parkland Middle School in Cranbrook shortly after 8 p.m. on Thursday in an area lit by street lights when he struck the girl who was crossing the street. There was a teen dance in progress at the school at the time. "Shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 29th, 2009, a Cranbrook RCMP member was driving a marked police vehicle past Parkland Junior Secondary School, where a teen dance was in progress," said Sgt. M. E. Jorgenson. "An 11 year old girl was crossing the street and was struck by the police car. Emergency personnel were called to the scene immediately and the girl was transported to the East Kootenay Regional Hospital, where she was treated for head injuries," he said. "She was subsequently flown to Children’s Hospital in Calgary for further treatment. An enquiry with the Children’s Hospital on October 30th reported that the girl is in stable condition," he said in a police press release. Police investigators have been speaking to witnesses who were at the scene. " There is no evidence to suggest that weather played a factor in this accident, but environmental conditions were that it was night-time driving, with only street-light, and vehicle headlight illumination," he said. The question that investigators will have to answer is whether the officer was keeping his eyes on the road or whether he was looking left and right and failed to see the child. Police have not indicated whether the officer was alone or whether there was another member of the force riding with him. "The driver of the police vehicle is a seven year member of the RCMP, but his name is not being released. The driver was conducting a routine patrol in the neighborhood of the school; not driving with any emergency equipment activated," said Jorgenson. Police are requesting that anyone with information about the accident, who has not yet spoken with police to contact the East Kootenay traffic Services office at (250)420-4244 and not the Cranbrook Detachment.