A Texas sixth-grader who left his middle school campus during national student walkouts Friday was hit by a car and killed when he attempted to walk across a highway, officials said.

The 11-year-old boy, identified in a hospital news release as Jonathan Benko, was hit at 10:27 a.m. by a pickup traveling north on Loop 375 in El Paso, the El Paso Times reported. He died later at a hospital.

Students nationwide walked out of classes Friday on the 19th anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, to protest gun violence.

The boy was struck while leaving Parkland Middle School in El Paso during the walkout, but he was not participating in it, Ysleta Independent School District Superintendent Xavier De La Torre said at a news conference.

He left in a group of students as part of a "separate, isolated event," the Times reported. Students walked to the middle school's football field to gather for the walkout, but a small group hopped over a wall and left campus, according to the students' accounts to the Times. No other students were hurt, officials said.

Sgt. Robert Gomez, a spokesman for El Paso police, said the 61-year-old driver of the truck stopped after the accident.

Gomez told the newspaper "it's next to impossible to stop for a pedestrian on the highway," which makes crossing a freeway dangerous.

No charges have been filed in the the boy's death as an investigation continues, police said Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.