RUMFORD, Maine (AP) - While friends built a memorial of stuffed animals and flowers, a Maine school district helped elementary students cope Thursday with the death of a boy who was struck and killed by a school bus after falling off his bicycle.
Counselors were made available at Rumford Elementary School and other schools in Regional School Unit 10, which is grieving the death of 6-year-old Jayce Holt. The boy was crossing a street on his bike in Rumford on Wednesday when he fell and was struck by the bus, police said.
A candlelight vigil was scheduled to be held for the boy. Friends also brought candles, notes and pictures to the makeshift memorial site in Rumford, a small town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the state capital of Augusta.
The Rumford Police Department is investigating. Police said they believe Jayce was interacting with someone on the bus in some way while riding his bike before the crash happened. Jayce entered the crosswalk not recognizing the bus turned until it was too late, police said. He didn’t have time to stop his bike and fell and went under the bus, where he was struck by rear tires, police said.
Regional School Unit 10 confirmed Jayce was a student at Rumford Elementary School. A district spokesman said in a prepared statement that the school community is “grieving the loss” and that “this tragedy is far-reaching throughout our community.”
Jill Bartash, principal of the elementary school, posted on the school’s Facebook page that the “days ahead will be difficult for our entire community.” She said that school would take place as scheduled Thursday, but that a “Family Fun Night” that had been scheduled for Thursday night would be postponed.
The bus driver was 51-year-old Stephen Arsenault, of Dixfield. Police said neither he nor students on the bus were injured. A phone number listed as belonging to Arsenault was disconnected.
A Maine State Police spokesman said the agency sent a reconstruction team to the scene.
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