Arrangements set for Park Forest boy struck by bus
Visitation will be held Friday and Saturday for a 7-year-old Park Forest boy who was struck by a school bus Friday near his home and later died.
Connor Kaczmarski, of the 100 block of Walnut Street, was a second grader at Mohawk Primary Center, according to Park Forest-Chicago Heights Elementary District 163, which made grief counselors available at the school.
He was struck by a bus that was dropping students off a little after 3 p.m., and was pronounced dead at 4 p.m. Friday at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields Hospital.
The cause and manner of the boy’s death was still under investigation Monday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Ridge Funeral Home, 6620 W. Archer Ave., Chicago, according to the home. A funeral service will be held at the home at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Park Forest police said an investigation continues with the assistance of the Suburban Major Accident Reconstruction Team.
District 163 Superintendent Caletha White wrote in a statement to district families that Kaczmarski was “a joy to all of his teachers, kindhearted, smart and funny,” and that “he will be missed greatly by the Mohawk and District 163 students and educators.”
Near where the accident occurred, a makeshift memorial was been set up with stuffed animals and balloons.
The bus involved in the accident is owned by Kickert School Bus Line Inc., and the driver and witnesses to the crash were being interviewed by investigators, police said.
Police said that any decision regarding criminal charges will be made in conjunction with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office when all evidence has been obtained and reviewed.
Police said that anyone with information about the accident should call 708-748-1309.