Car crashes into empty classroom in Shorewood
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com December 26, 2012 2:36PM
No children were injured Wednesday when a car crashed into a classroom at Walnut Trails Elementary School in Shorewood. School was not in session. Police say the 37-year-old driver apparently went into a diabetic coma. Her car left the road, crossed a fie
Updated: January 28, 2013 3:48PM
A car crashed through the wall of a Shorewood classroom that would’ve been filled with children if school had been in session Wednesday.
“This week or next week would’ve had kindergartners inside. It’s very fortunate this didn’t happen then,” Minooka Grade School Superintendent Al Gegenheimer said while inspecting the damage at Walnut Trails Elementary School.
At 12:26 p.m. a 37-year-old woman was driving a Jeep Patriot down Parkside Drive approaching Hunter Drive when she slipped into a diabetic coma, Police Cmdr. Eric Allen said.
“It appears she blacked out, hit some landscaping stones, but missed the parking lot and drove through the field until she struck the side of the building,” Allen said.
The vehicle crashed through the brick wall on the north side of 301 Wynstone Drive and struck part of the boiler system, sending large chunks of pipe halfway across the classroom.
The crash also brought live electrical wires down from the ceiling as the room filled with water and steam, Allen said.
Troy Township firefighters removed the driver from the SUV and had her blood sugar regulated before taking her to Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, reports said. There were no passengers.
Gegenheimer said only one class would be displaced and repairs would be under way before school resumes Monday.
