A tragic incident unfolded in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood on Wednesday morning when a woman was struck and killed by a Chicago Transit Authority bus. According to CBS News Chicago, the accident occurred just before 8 a.m. in the 7000 block of South South Shore Drive, near the South Shore Cultural Center. Police reports indicate that the woman approached the bus and appeared to slip before being hit by the vehicle as it started to move from a stopped position. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Further details released identify the victim as Tracy Frasure. The ABC7 Chicago report quoted a witness, Wayne Foster, who described hearing a sound "like branches on the glass" before realizing that a woman had been struck. Foster stated that he was on the No. 26 bus and, upon seeing the woman on the ground, he and other passengers alerted the bus driver, who reportedly uttered an expletive and drove off. Foster went on to say, "I know that somebody's little girl, that somebody's child, somebody's going like, somebody's whole world is going to be crushed today."
Wayne Foster, who was on his way to work at the time of the incident, told ABC7 Chicago he found the event so traumatic that he went home instead of continuing to his job. He advised the victim's family to "Take your time to grieve, but to also reach out to the city, reach out to CTA, important them to be transparent and not to have a lot behind legal tape." In response to inquiries, a CTA spokesperson stated, "According to preliminary information, CTA received reports of contact between a #26 bus and a female pedestrian at 69th and South Shore." No statement was provided about why the driver chose to continue driving after the accident occurred.
The Chicago Police Major Accident Investigation Unit is currently investigating the circumstances of the accident. There have been no reports of other injuries in relation to this incident. The community is left to grapple with the loss of a resident under such sudden and tragic conditions, as authorities work to piece together exactly what transpired that morning on South South Shore Drive.
