Four dead after truck hits Girl Scouts picking up trash along Wisconsin highway

Updated: Nov. 4, 7:20 a.m. | Posted: Nov. 3, 6:55 p.m.

Four people, including three Girl Scouts, died Saturday after a pickup truck left a western Wisconsin highway and hit a group that had been picking up trash in a ditch.

The crash happened just before noon in Chippewa County, just north of Eau Claire, Wis. Authorities said a Girl Scout troop was picking up trash along County Highway P in Lake Hallie, near State Highway 29, when the Ford F-150 left the road and hit the group in the ditch.

The Lake Hallie Police Department reported that three girls and one woman died from their injuries. Another girl was in critical condition as of Saturday night.

The driver fled the scene, and officials issued a call for help in locating the suspect vehicle. A 21-year-old man from Chippewa Falls later turned himself in to authorities in connection with the crash, Lake Hallie police reported.

Sgt. Daniel Sokup of the Lake Hallie Police Department told the Associated Press that the man will be charged with four counts of homicide through the negligent use of a vehicle. Sokup said the crash happened before a hill and there were no blind spots.

"The area is not an unsafe area," he said. Sokup said it was not immediately known if there were other factors that might have led the driver to leave the road.

Two of the girls and the woman were pronounced dead at the scene. A third Girl Scout was transported to a hospital where she later died, Sokup said. The fourth girl was transported to a hospital in critical condition. The names of the dead were not immediately released.

The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported that the girls were from Troop 3055 of Chippewa Falls, and were fourth-graders at Southview and Halmstad elementary schools.

The group of about 16 girls had split into two smaller groups to pick up trash along the highway, part of a service project they conducted each fall and spring. They were wearing brightly colored safety vests, the Leader-Telegram reported.

The Chippewa Falls school district announced that counseling would be available for students and parents at the two elementary schools from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, and again on Monday.

The Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, in a Facebook post, asked people to "please keep the Nokomis Service Area volunteers and families in your thoughts and prayers as they grapple with this senseless loss."

The local Girl Scouts organization will hold a candlelight vigil at Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls at 6 p.m. Sunday.