CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police have identified a North Carolina college student who was killed after being struck by several cars in a bizarre incident late Tuesday night in northeast Charlotte.
The crash happened around 10:25 p.m. on North Tryon Street near the intersection of Sugar Creek Road.
Investigators told WSOC-TV that 20-year-old Polly Rogers died after she fell out of the emergency window of a Charlotte Party Charters bus and was hit by two cars.
Officers said Rogers fell out of a window on the right side of the bus as it was moving and landed in the center lane of the street before she was hit and killed.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The cars hit her before they could even get the bus driver to stop the bus," explained the father of one of the other passengers on board. "My heart goes out to the parents because my son was standing right there."
He also explained how it happened.
"The girl leaned against the window - which evidently was an emergency exit window - and my son says the latches were broke evidently and she fell out," he said. "I don't think the girl did anything wrong. All she did was lean against the window."
Witnesses said the scene was chaotic.
"Out of nowhere. It just come out of nowhere and (I) started yelling, ‘Yo, stop, stop, stop, slow down, slow down, call 911, call 911. Call an ambulance! Everybody just kept driving and driving and driving," bystander Juan Vasquez said.
Authorities said the bus was on its way to a bar from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte when the incident occurred.
University officials confirmed Rogers was a student at UNCC and was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
At the time of this report, no charges had been filed.
Police said speed was not a factor in the incident, which remains under investigation.