The Notre Dame campus is in mourning after three students were hit by a minivan as they walked along Ironwood Road near Bulla in St. Joseph County shortly after 4am Saturday. Two of the students were killed and one is in critical condition.
The students who died have been identified as first year students. 19-year-old Olivia Lara Rojas of Bolivia and 19-year-old Valeria Espinel of Ecuador. The lone student who survived is 19-year-old sophomore Eduardo Jose Elias Calderon of the Dominican Republic.
The driver who hit the students has been identified by the St Joseph County Fatal Accident Crash Team (FACT) as 25-year-old Justin Cavallo of South Bend. He remained at the scene of the crash and cooperated with investigators. The results of toxicology tests in the case are still pending. Investigators say after hitting the students, the minivan ended up next to a home in the area.
We have also learned that after the initial crash, a second driver came on the scene and struck one of the victims lying in the roadway. That driver also remained at the scene.
(You can read the FACT news release below.)
