Four people, all of them children or teenagers, were killed, and several others were injured on Monday when a car crashed through an after-school center in Chatham, Ill., a village just south of Springfield, the State Police said.
The car struck three of the victims outside the building and the fourth inside around 3:20 p.m., the police said. Several others were taken to the hospital, and at least one person was airlifted, the authorities said.
The victims were two 7-year-olds, an 8-year-old, and an 18-year-old, the Illinois State Police said Tuesday morning. Their names were not released.
Six other children were taken to hospitals, with one in critical condition, the police said.
The driver, whom the authorities have not publicly identified, was not injured and was undergoing an evaluation at the hospital Monday evening, the State Police said. No one else was in the vehicle, the police said.
Toxicology reports are pending, the police said. “The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” they said in a statement.
Officers with the Chatham Police Department, Chatham Fire Department and other agencies responded to a call Monday afternoon of a vehicle being driven into a Y.N.O.T. After School Camp, the State Police said.
According to the police, the driver hit the east side of the building, striking people outside, and then continued driving through the building, hitting people inside before exiting on the west side.
“A terrible tragedy has occurred here that has affected all of us,” the Chatham Police Department said in a statement.
Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois expressed his condolences for the victims and their families in a statement on Monday evening and said that his administration was monitoring the situation.
“Our community lost a group of bright and innocent young people with their whole lives ahead of them,” Mr. Pritzker said. “Parents said goodbye to their kids this morning not knowing it would be the last time. My heart is heavy for these families and the unimaginable grief they’re experiencing.”
U.S. representatives from Illinois also express their sympathies on social media. Representative Mary Miller, a Republican, said. “My heart is with the entire community.” Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat, said, “As a dad, my heart breaks for these parents living all of our worst nightmare tonight.”
Chatham, a village of around 14,500 people, is about 12 miles south of downtown Springfield, Illinois’s capital.
Y.N.O.T., or Youth Needing Other Things, is an organization founded in 2002 “as a way for parents to place their kids into a safe, fun, active and stimulating summer environment,” according to its website. The group organizes summer camps and an after-school program for children.
Neil Vigdor, Julie Bosman and Victor Mather contributed reporting.
