MILTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” A Milton ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ officer was struck by a vehicle while directing school traffic Thursday morning.
Officer Ian Galloway was struck in front of Milton Elementary School, at the intersection of U.S. 60 and Newmans Branch Road, according to Sgt. S.N. Swope of the West Virginia State ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Department.
Swope said Milton ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ received a call from Galloway that he had been struck at 7:12 a.m. When Galloway was taken to the hospital, Swope said he was alert and talking.
Swope said the driver immediately stopped and was cooperative with police.
At the time of the incident, Swope said the flashing lights that indicate drivers are moving through a school zone would likely not have been turned on, as they automatically start at 7:20 a.m. Without the lights, the 15 mph school zone becomes a 40 mph zone.
Swope said Galloway was in a cruiser just before the incident near the intersection with his emergency lights activated, although he wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t sure of the exact location.
Galloway walked into the road to direct traffic when some school buses attempted to exit the schoolÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s driveway, Swope said.
While Galloway was directing traffic, he was struck by the driver.
Swope said he has been in contact with Cabell County Prosecuting Attorney Jason Spears, who has been made aware of the initial report and will be updated depending on further investigation and footage taken by another Milton officer Thursday afternoon.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI cannot say right now whether there will be charges out against (the driver). ThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll be the decision in the prosecutorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s office. Once he gets all the information, he can make that determination here in the next couple days,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Swope said.
Milton Mayor Shane Evans told The Herald-Dispatch he visited the officer at a local hospital Thursday. Evans said Galloway has several non-life-threatening injuries, including a broken femur and tibia, as well as some broken ribs and facial lacerations. Evans said the hospital was still performing tests when he visited.
Galloway was only worried about his ability to return to work, Evans said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œYou can tell just by talking to him that he cares about the city,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said.
According to Evans, he has had multiple conversations with Delegate Daniel Linville and state officials to have a red light installed at the intersection in front of the school since it opened.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhat makes me upset about the whole thing is theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been working on putting a red light there for months now, and thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s still no red light,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Evans said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt shouldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take one of our guys getting hit to expedite this light because it couldÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been a kid. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s bad enough itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s one of our officers. It could have been a kid or anyone else.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Swope stressed drivers should be cautious when seeing any forms of flashing lights.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI think the main thing to stress right now is just, if you see lights, whether theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re police lights or emergency responder lights on the interstate or anywhere like that, the best advice I can give is slow down and be cautious continuing forward until you can identify what those lights are activated for,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Swope said.
To SwopeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s knowledge, there werenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t any children in the area on-foot during the incident.
He said itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s common for law enforcement officers to provide extra security or patrol school zones early in the morning to prepare for school traffic and prevent incidents like what happened to Galloway.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAt this point, I think itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a freak accident. HeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s lucky, very, extremely lucky. And he does have some pretty substantial bone injuries that heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s going to be nursing there for a while. So he definitely has a road to recovery,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Swope said.
