Child hit and killed by truck in a Colorado parking lot

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KKTV) - A child is dead and an investigation is underway following an incident in a Colorado parking lot on Thursday.

According to a news release from Commerce City, police were called to the scene in the 7700 block of Highway 2 at about 7:30 in the morning. The area is on the northeast side of Commerce City.

“The initial indication is a truck was in the parking lot when a child was struck,” the news release reads. “The Commerce City Police Department’s Crash Reconstruction Team is on scene and investigating. Contributing factors to the accident are still being determined but it does not appear speeding was involved.”

Police didn’t share any additional details on the incident and the name of the victim has not been released. It isn’t clear if the driver of the truck will face any charges.

While the exact circumstances of the incident remain under investigation, “Kids and Car Safety” wanted to remind the public that thousands of children are hurt or killed each year because a driver didn’t see them. The organization provided the following safety tips:

Children should always be directly and actively supervised any time a vehicle is being moved at the home and 100% of the time in or near parking lots.
Always carry toddlers or use strollers or shopping carts in parking lots or near vehicles.
Install childproof door knob covers on all outside doors of the home and pair them with stick on door alarms so you know if a child is attempting to sneak out of the house.

“Children under age 5 are the most at-risk for both frontovers and backovers because they cannot be seen by the driver,” a release from Kids and Car Safety reads. “Toddlers do not have the cognitive ability to understand danger and are quick to dart away from caregivers or sneak out of the home to say ‘bye-bye.’”

Click here for more from Kids and Car Safety.