A 7-year-old boy was fatally hit by a van Wednesday moments after getting off a school bus.
Cameron Brown and his sister had gotten off their bus from P.S. 43 around 3 p.m. when he was crossing behind it and was hit by a red van from God's Pentecostal Church, WCBS reported.
“I’m heartbroken by this tragic loss of one of our children, and share my condolences with the family and school community,” Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said in a statement. “We will have crisis counseling available to students and staff for as long as it is needed.”
Video shows the bus pull up, with the red van behind it, WCBS reported. The 22-year-old van driver thought he was braking and accidentally drove forward, hitting the boy, WABC reported.
Both drivers remained at the scene. It is unclear if the van driver will face charges.
Brown was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, WCBS reported.
Cameron Brown's father, Joseph Brown, 66, criticized school bus staff, who, he said, should have made sure his son safely got off the bus and into the van, the New York Daily News reported.
"They were supposed to protect him," Joseph Brown told the Daily News. "There should have been someone to transfer him from the bus to the van."
Cameron Brown was the youngest of four and was affectionately called "Nino" by his family, the Daily News reported.
"Nino was so smart," his oldest sister, Fantasia Brown, 19, told the Daily News. "He wanted to know everything. He was spelling from the moment he could talk. I already knew who was the man of the family. He was good at math. He was on the honor roll. He was on top of everything."
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