Crash that killed 4 girls at Illinois after-school camp likely not ‘targeted attack,’ police say

The deaths of three children and one adult teenager when a vehicle veered off an Illinois roadway and into an after-school camp were likely not the result of a targeted attack, police said Tuesday.

Illinois State Police investigating the tragedy in the village of Chatham said the driver was not in custody as detectives await the results of toxicology tests.

“The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” state police said in a statement Tuesday.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as 44-year-old Marianne Akers, of Chatham, who was hospitalized “for evaluation” but otherwise uninjured, according to the state police statement. It wasn’t clear if she has been released.

Akers was a food services employee who last worked at the Ball-Chatham School District in November 2022, the district said.

The victims were identified as Rylee Britton, 18; Ainsley Johnson, 8; Alma Buhnerkempe, 7; and Kathryn Corley, 7, all pronounced dead at the scene, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said in a statement Tuesday.

Ball-Chatham schools said all four were district students.

“In times like these it is important that we lean on one another for strength and support,” the district said in a statement.

Six other children were injured and hospitalized, one in critical condition, state police said.

A Hospital Sisters Health System spokesperson indicated all six were taken to St. John’s Hospital before one was treated and released, and the remaining five were transferred to St. John’s Children’s Hospital, a pediatric trauma center.

Jamie Loftus, founder of YNOT Outdoors Summer Camp & After School, said in a statement Tuesday that the collision was an “unforetold tragedy.”

Loftus said the camp’s security video captured the crash: A large, speeding SUV struck the YNOT building’s east wall around 3:20 p.m. and exited to the west before coming to a stop against a utility pole.

“It travelled through a 78-acre farm field, arcing into a path that security cameras observed, showed it heading to our building at a high rate of speed,” Loftus said. “With no apparent attempt to alter its direction, the vehicle crossed North Breckenridge and the sidewalk, continuing into our parking lot and into the East wall of our building.”

Jamie and Mitzi Loftus, residents of nearby Springfield, founded the camp in 2002 to help keep children active and stimulate their minds during the summer, according to the camp’s website.

Saying families of the victims “are hurting very, very badly,” Jamie Loftus asked for people to keep them in mind but “give them space and respect.”