(Fort Wayne, IN)- 1-26-24 — This morning at approximately 10:05am, the Indiana State Police responded to a multi-vehicle crash on I-69 at the 308mm in Allen County, just south of the Goshen Road exit.

The crash involved two school buses from the Mississinewa Community Schools located in Grant County. At the time of the crash these two school buses were transporting 4th & 5th grade students to the Shrine Circus at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum. There were a total of (58) students, (7) adult chaperones, and the (2) drivers onboard the two buses.

Also at this location at the same time was a secondary crash involving a Grant County Sheriff’s Department patrol car and a passenger car.  The GCSD patrol car was serving as a rear escort vehicle behind the convoy of school buses headed to the circus.

The preliminary investigation revealed that there was a lengthy line of school buses and police escort vehicles attempting to exit the interstate at the Goshen Road exit. The GCSD deputy observed the congestion ahead and backed off his patrol car to create a safety buffer between the school buses and approaching traffic. The two buses at the rear of the back-up  became involved in a rear end collision (bus #8 hit bus #3), and then an approaching Chevrolet Malibu passenger car crashed into the rear of the Grant County patrol car.

Jennifer Moore, 33, of Marion was the driver of bus #8, a 2024 Thomas school bus. Susan Hill, 63, of Fairmount was the driver of bus #3, a 2019 Thomas school bus.   

Of the (65) occupants on the two school buses, there was only (1) child that reported a very minor injury to her head.  All other students, chaperones, and both drivers were uninjured.  There were no injuries sustained in the secondary crash involving the patrol car.

The two school buses sustained enough damage that they had to be towed from the scene.  Mississinewa Community Schools expedited two replacement buses to the scene.  At approximately 11:15am all students, chaperones, and drivers were transferred onto the replacement buses, and then transported to Parkview hospital (PRMC) in Fort Wayne.  As a precaution, all students were medically evaluated at Parkview ER prior to being transported back home by the Mississinewa School Corporation.

The crash scene investigation and clean up effort took approximately two hours, and resulted in a steady 4-5 miles of interstate traffic backup.  Traffic was opened back up just before noon. 

Managing traffic and maintaining  safety at the scene required a cooperative effort by numerous officers from the Fort Wayne Post, Allen County Police Department, Fort Wayne Police Department, Parker’s Wrecker Service, and Losure’s Wrecker Service (Grant County).

This remains an active crash investigation by the Indiana State Police, specifically Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division- School Bus Inspection personnel.

*The Indiana State Police would like to publicly commend the PRMC Emergency Room medical staff, the administrators, and the public safety officers for a job well done. The professionalism and efficiency demonstrated while handling this influx of of unexpected patients into the ER was surely comforting for all the involved children. PRMC even sent them off with a bagged lunch, bottled drinks, and snacks for their bus ride home!