Listen 5 min

       Share

       Add to your saved stories

       Save

       Prince George’s County police on Tuesday identified two Riverdale Elementary School students who were struck and killed by a van driver while walking to school Monday and said a crossing guard normally stationed in the area had retired before the school year began.

       Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. ArrowRight

       Shalom Mbah, a 10-year-old girl, and Sky Sosa, 5, a boy, both of Riverdale, Md., were struck around 8 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Riverdale and Taylor roads; an adult male relative of one of the victims was also hit and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The children were not related, and efforts to reach relatives Tuesday were unsuccessful.

       The deaths sparked anger from some parents, including the former president of a parent-teacher organization at a nearby school, who said parents had been lobbying county officials for years for more crossing guards amid an ongoing shortage.

       Advertisement

       Prince George’s County Public Schools Superintendent Millard House II said at a news conference Tuesday that grief counselors would be available for students at Riverdale Elementary and that the school’s staff was struggling with the tragedy.

       “The entire community — the school system — is grieving,” House said. “Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected by this unimaginable loss during the pre-Thanksgiving break.”

       A preliminary investigation determined that a woman was driving the van south on Taylor Road, then made a left turn onto Riverdale Road, and the vehicle struck the two students and the man while they were crossing the street in a crosswalk, police said. The driver, who was not identified, was not injured.

       The intersection of Riverdale and Taylor roads is a four-way stop, and police said investigators are trying to determine whether the driver stopped at one of the stop signs. Parents said the intersection is often congested during school drop-off.

       Advertisement

       Authorities said the driver remained on the scene and is not in custody.

       Police officers who responded to the crash provided medical aid to the injured children, but both died a short time later after being taken to a hospital. Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said at a news conference Tuesday that there was no preliminary indication the driver was under the influence of medication or other substances. Aziz said authorities have obtained video of the crash.

       Prince George’s police said the investigation into the crash may take months to complete. When it is done, investigators will turn it over to the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney, who will determine whether to file charges.

       Share this article Share

       Aziz said an experienced crossing guard who had worked the intersection where the crash occurred retired over the summer. The position has not been filled, and Aziz said it had been a challenge for the department to hire crossing guards after the pandemic.

       Advertisement

       However, Aziz said he did not think a crossing guard would have been able to prevent the accident.

       Prince George’s County police said Tuesday that they have 63 crossing guards and 83 vacancies. Aziz said 22 interviews are scheduled in the coming weeks to fill crossing guard positions, and he urged people to apply for the jobs.

       “We are not where we need to be in meeting the challenge,” he said.

       Sarah Christopherson, a former PTO president at Thomas Stone Elementary School in the Prince George’s community of Mount Rainier, said parents have been asking county officials for years for more crossing guards.

       In a petition addressed to the county police department in the fall of 2019, the Thomas Stone Elementary community requested that the county restore their two crossing guards after they were reassigned. Children were walking to school unmonitored at a busy intersection, Christopherson said.

       Advertisement

       Christopherson said she was told then that there was a staffing shortage of crossing guards. Ultimately, she said, the municipal police departments of Mount Rainier and Brentwood pitched in to help on a volunteer basis. But when the pandemic then shut down schools, the issue became less important.

       “I have such incredible frustration and grief over what happened at Riverdale,” Christopherson said. “My frustration lies in, for almost a full year, beating my head against PGPD and PG County government, saying somebody’s going to get killed, and nobody caring.”

       She said, “I never got the sense of any kind of urgency.”

       Prince George’s County is not alone in facing a shortfall of crossing guards. Cities and counties across the country have had trouble filling the jobs in recent years. Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties have reported shortages, while in D.C. a principal filled in as a crossing guard because one wasn’t regularly available at his school.

       In Memphis, a 12-year-old girl was struck outside a middle school, focusing attention on a shortage there.

       The deaths in Prince George’s County shocked the school community, coming just days before the Thanksgiving holiday, and prompted an outpouring of grief. By Tuesday, twin memorials had sprung up close to the spot where the students were struck.

       Nicole Asbury contributed to this report.

       Share

       Loading...