CHATHAM, Ill. — Residents of a small central Illinois city on Tuesday mourned the loss of three children and a teenager killed in a startling crash in which a car barreled through a building used for a popular after-school camp. Authorities said it didn’t appear to be a targeted attack.
The car on Monday left a road, crossed a field and smashed into the side of the building in Chatham used by Youth Needing Other Things Outdoors, also known as YNOT, according to Illinois State Police. It traveled through the building, striking people before exiting the other side. Six children were also hospitalized, including one left in critical condition.
The Sangamon County coroner identified those killed as 18-year-old Rylee Britton of Springfield and three Chatham children: Ainsley Johnson, 8, and Kathryn Corley and Alma Buhnerkempe, both 7.
On Tuesday evening, with red ribbons tied in bows lining Main Street, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil in the town square, where heart-shaped boards bore the names of the four who died. Dozens of people signed messages to each.
“You were a great counselor,” 9-year-old Coralie Glessner wrote on the heart for Britton. Coralie, who has participated in YNOT’s program in the past, said she liked that Britton played four square with her. Asked for a memory of her, Coralie said, “Greeting me when I got off the bus” each day at YNOT.
Faith leaders spoke as attendees held lit candles. Lutheran Charities brought support animals, and the American Red Cross provided “water, snacks and tissues,” organizer Miriam Snider said.
Sam McCurdy, 19, drove home Tuesday from the University of Missouri in Columbia to be with his sister, a close friend of Britton’s. His sister, Britton and other friends had planned to attend prom together this weekend.
“I wanted to be here for her, and for the community, to show support,” McCurdy said. “So many plans, so many futures, and so much grieving for something that shouldn’t have happened.”
People in the community of about 15,000, located in what was once an open prairie outside the Illinois capital of Springfield, have also been grieving and consoling each other in other ways.
“People are coping by finding ways to be with each other, to provide comfort and support to those who are suffering,” Snider said.
Churches held prayer services, city leaders ordered flags to be flown at half-staff and schools held classes online. An ice cream shop offered free scoops and a community meeting place. Some locals changed their Facebook profile pictures to red ribbons with the motto “Chatham Strong.”
“This is just devastating,” said Jennifer Walston, 43, as she and her daughters left flowers and a stuffed animal at the crash site. Plywood covered the hole where the car crashed into the building. She said her daughters knew Alma and Ainsley, remembering them as energetic girls who tried to include others.
“They were sweet girls,” Walston said.
The studio where Ainsley and two others hurt in the crash took dance canceled classes Tuesday. Teachers at Studio M Dance Centre remembered the 8-year-old in a Facebook post as a “sweet and sassy” dancer and tumbler who “will be deeply missed every single day.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds packed Cherry Hills Church. Most wore red, the color of Glenwood High School, where Britton was a senior.
Pastor Steve Patzia told the crowd that he saw her in church on Easter Sunday as he offered words of comfort.
“It’s good and right to feel how you feel, when you feel how you feel. I’ve had moments of grief and sadness. I’ve cried, and I’ve also had memories,” he said. “I would encourage you to share those good memories you have of her and the children that were lost as well.”
Parents said the YNOT Outdoors after-school and summer camp programs, which employ high school and college students as counselors, are coveted and competitive to get into. In social media posts, families recalled fond summer memories at the location which focuses on outdoor activities.
Walston’s daughters attended the summer camp and said they knew Alma and Ainsley, remembering them as energetic girls who tried to include others.
“They were sweet girls,” Walston said.
Jamie Loftus, founder of YNOT Outdoors, said security camera footage showed a vehicle left the road “a substantial distance” away and sped across the field toward the building.
The car then crossed a road, the sidewalk and YNOT’s parking lot before crashing through the building “with no apparent attempt to alter its direction,” Loftus said. The vehicle then crossed a gravel road and crashed into a pole and fence.
“I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print,” Loftus said in a social media post about the victims on Monday. “They are friends and their kids are like our kids.”
Jacob Rabin, 19, who attended YNOT as a child, said the 3:20 p.m. crash happened at the worst possible time.
“They would have just gotten off the buses” at YNOT, Rabin said. “There would have been the peak amount of people there at that time.”
The driver, a 44-year-old Chatham woman, wasn’t injured but was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Police said toxicology reports were pending. She was not in custody on Tuesday. State police declined to offer further details, saying the crash remains under investigation.
“This does not appear to be a targeted attack,” state police said.
Officials in the Ball-Chatham School District, where the four victims attended schools, said classes would be online through Thursday.
“As we mourn this unimaginable loss, we recognize the pain and grief that many are experiencing,” Superintendent Becca Lamon and Chatham Village President Dave Kimsey said in a joint statement. “We are all hurting.”
The deadly crash comes days after a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Canada, killing 11 people. Similar vehicle ramming events have taken place worldwide.
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Associated Press writers Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed.