Police Identify Boy, 6, Killed in Indiana Church Bus Crash

Police have identified the child killed in Tuesday's church bus crash in Indiana as a 6-year-old Gary boy. 

Jacob Williams was the only fatality reported when a church bus rolled over on Interstate 70 Tuesday afternoon. The crash injured seven others.

The bus was carrying 10 members of a Gary, Indiana congregation around 4 p.m. on Interstate 70 east of Indianapolis when it spun off the south side of the roadway and flipped over, according to police.

Williams was ejected from his seat in the crash and pronounced dead on the scene by the Hancock County Coroner.

The driver of the bus, Charles Goodman of Gary, Indiana, was also displaced from his seat in the impact and pinned underneath the vehicle, according to authorities. Police said the man was still alert and conscious at the scene before being transported to the hospital by a Lifeline helicopter.

The reason Goodman lost control of the bus is still unknown, but upon further investigation police discovered the 53-year-old was allegedly operating on a suspended license and had an active warrant out for his arrest at the time of the accident.

The arrest warrant was issued out of Lake County, Indiana for failing to appear in court on a prior traffic offense, police said.

Officials also said the bus should have had a USDOT registration number for planning to travel out of Indiana, but no such number was assigned to the vehicle. 

“Based on preliminary investigation this crash appears to be a result of driver error, there is no evidence at this time of any mechanical failure,” Indiana State Police said in a Tuesday evening release.

The passengers on the bus were a group from St. Jude Deliverance Center who were traveling to a youth convention in Dayton, Ohio at the time.

Police said although the bus does not qualify as a commercial motor vehicle by definition, due to the circumstances of the crash it will be inspected by the Indiana State Police Commercial Motor Vehicle Division.

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