New Jersey student fatally struck by motorcycle while fleeing police near the University of Delaware

A New Jersey college student was fatally struck by a fleeing police motorcycle near the University of Delaware on Tuesday night, officials said.

The 18-year-old woman, a freshman at the university, was struck in a crosswalk on East Main Street near North College Avenue in Newark, Delaware, shortly before midnight, city police said Wednesday.

She was pronounced dead at the scene after bystanders attempted to save her life, police said. Her identity was being withheld pending notification of her family.

According to the university calendar, Tuesday was the first day of lectures of the fall semester.

About three blocks from the crash scene, a University of Delaware police officer attempted to stop the motorcycle for a traffic violation at 11:53 p.m. The patrol officer called off the pursuit after the motorcycle sped away at a high rate of speed, Newark police said.

The student was hit within the next minute, officials said.

After the accident, the driver got off his motorcycle and continued riding onto the sidewalk, hitting four other people and a light pole, authorities said.

“Incidents like this are tragic beyond belief,” University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis and Vice President José-Luis Riera said in a joint statement Wednesday. “We cannot express enough our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and the entire community, as we are all deeply shocked by the sudden loss of one of our loved ones. Our hearts are very heavy today.”

Three of the pedestrians hit on the sidewalk were treated at the scene, one was taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the motorcycle was also treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the motorcycle has not been charged or identified as the accident remains under investigation.