Boy, 12, hit by truck as he walks to school bus near Marshall

MARSHALL – A 12-year-old boy was critically injured when he was hit by a pickup truck while trying to board his school bus.

Seventh-grader David J. Newman was flown by AirCare medical helicopter to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo after he was struck at 6:49 a.m. Friday, according to Calhoun County Sheriff Department deputies.

The accident occurred in front of the boy's home in the 21000 block of F Drive South between 21-Mile and 22-Mile Road in Eckford Township southeast of Marshall.

Deputies said the Marshall Public Schools bus was stopped in the westbound lane of F Drive South with its red lights flashing and stop sign activated.

As the boy attempted to cross the road he was hit by an eastbound pickup truck driven by Earl J. Shepherd III, 24, of Marshall, deputies said. The impact knocked the boy against the bus and to the pavement.

Deputies said he was attempting to cross the road in front of the bus when he was hit.

Neither the driver nor any students on the bus was injured.

Shepherd was taken to Oaklawn Hospital for blood testing, deputies said.

The county's accident reconstruction team was at the scene investigating the crash.