Wichita cops identify woman, 19, who ran in front of box truck as Heartspring student
Wichita police have identified the 19-year-old woman killed Saturday evening on Webb Road near 40th Street North as Hanna Lund of Wichita.
Officer Charley Davidson said Sunday that Lund died after she “ran in front” of a box truck from a ditch along the west side of Webb Road. The driver of the box truck tried to stop, he said in an email, “but couldn’t and struck” her, causing fatal injuries.
Lund was a student at Heartspring School who had “left an off-campus home environment” without telling staff before the deadly collision, according to information from police and a news release from Heartspring. Police on Sunday described her as a “dependent adult,” meaning she needed assistance carrying out normal activities or protecting her interests.
Heartspring said in the release that it appears staff in the off-campus home “were intently following current protocols set” by the organization and “outside governing bodies” at the time Lund left.
But the release didn’t elaborate on what those protocols are and how long Lund had been missing before she was killed.
The crash was reported around 8:15 p.m. She died on site.
Questions about whether staff were supposed to constantly monitor Lund, what safeguards are in place and other inquiries about her departure from the home went unanswered by Heartspring on Monday.
The organization, one of the state’s best-known for providing services and education to children and young adults with autism and other developmental and behavioral disabilities, said it would make no additional comments “at this time out of respect for the privacy” of Lund’s family.
The nature of her disability was not disclosed.
Heartspring said in the release that its president and CEO Karina Forrest-Perkins and other organization leadership “were on-site to work with the Wichita Police Department and to provide support to the staff” in the aftermath of Lund’s death.
“Intensive mental health resources are being offered as many staff will be deeply affected,” the release said, adding:
“There are no words to describe a loss of this nature. The staff who are aware are devastated as Heartspring has lost a member of its family. The organization and team members are closely working with the family of the student and offering whatever assistance possible.”
