Student, 15, Killed by Car Jumping a Curb

A 15-year-old boy was fatally injured Monday when he was struck by a car that jumped the curb of a parking lot at an Irvine high school, police said.

Arturo Alvarez was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he died an hour later.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Lt. Mike Hamel, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department, said of the accident, which occurred about 2:45 p.m. just as classes at Arnold O. Beckman High were letting out for the day.

The accident was witnessed by several other students who, like the victim, were waiting to be picked up from the school, located in the 3500 block of Bryan Avenue.

The driver, 73-year-old Susan Oh of Tustin, was taken to Irvine Regional Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries.

Hamel said it was unclear why she was at the school.

Oh has not been cited, he said, adding that the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

“It appears that she lost control of the car,” Hamel said.

“It does not appear that it was an intentional act. Why she lost control is under investigation.”

The accident was witnessed by at least six students near the boy as he sat on the sidewalk of a parking lot next to the school, Hamel said.

Grief counselors and police officers were expected to be on campus today to “support the school staff and do whatever we can to ensure that the students at the school and victim’s family are taken care of,” he said.