A 49-year-old firefighter is dead, and three other first responders are suffering from injuries, after a drunk driver plowed into the group over the weekend, authorities say.
Apparently, the officials were dealing with a previous drunk driving incident on the shoulder of the Schuylkill Expressway when 63-year-old Jacquelyn Walker drove her Jeep Grand Cherokee right into them. The crash occurred just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, and Thomas Royds started going into cardiac arrest on the spot.
The other firefighters sustained injuries that necessitated surgery. A state trooper was also taken to a local hospital.
Walker allegedly had been making cocktails in her vehicle. She thought she had been driving on a five-lane highway at 5 p.m., authorities say.
She now faces a slew of charges and is being held on a $500,000 cash bond.
“We will seek justice for all of the victims of this terrible crash that sadly will have a lasting impact on the families of the first responders, the Lower Merion firefighting community and many others,” officials said in a statement.
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