A car careened into people who were watching an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade in Stillwater on Saturday morning, sending spectators “flying” into the air and injuring an undetermined number of them, a witness said.
OSU spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Greene confirmed that an “accident” occurred during the parade near the campus, but she did not describe what happened.
Paul Sims, an OSU graduate student, told CNN that he was watching the end of the parade with his daughter around 10:30 a.m. CT when a car hit other spectators across the street from where he was standing.
“I can’t describe it any more clearly than this: People flying in the air,” Sims said. “(The) vehicle … came to rest not long after they hit the first set of people.”
The incident happened at the intersection of Hall of Fame and Main streets, just a few blocks from campus, Hulsey-Greene said.
“Oklahoma State University is saddened by the tragic parade incident earlier this morning,” the school said on its Twitter account. “Our thoughts & prayers are with those affected.”
The incident happened about four hours before the OSU-Kansas University football game at Stillwater’s Boone Pickens Stadium.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said on Twitter that the state’s “thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic events” at Oklahoma State.
Kansas University commented on the incident through its athletic department Twitter account: “Our thoughts are with Oklahoma State and those involved in the tragic accident this morning.”