University of Delaware student killed after motorcyclist flees traffic stop

NEWARK, Del. − A motorcyclist who police said fled a traffic stop Tuesday night is accused of hitting and killing a University of Delaware freshman and injuring four others.

The motorcyclist hit the 18-year-old woman after speeding away from a campus police traffic stop "at a high rate of speed," the City of Newark Police Department said. Bystanders tried to save the freshman student, but were unable to, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name has not yet been released by police.

The motorcyclist was ejected from his seat after hitting the college freshman, and the motorcycle continued down the street, hitting four other people.

Tuesday was the first day of classes at the University of Delaware, which has over 23,000 students. Many classmates and friends witnessed the incident Tuesday night, school administration said.

"Incidents such as this are unimaginably tragic. We cannot express enough how sorry we are for the family, friends, and greater community as we are all so deeply shaken by the sudden loss of one of our own. Our hearts are very heavy today," University of Delaware President Dennir Assanis and Vice President José-Luis Riera's said in a statement Wednesday.

What happened at the University of Delaware traffic stop?

Just before midnight Tuesday, a University of Delaware police officer tried to stop a motorcyclist for a traffic offense, the City of Newark Police Department said.

The motorcyclist, whom police have not yet identified, "disregarded the police officer’s emergency lights and fled at a high rate of speed."

"The University of Delaware police officer did not engage in a pursuit with the motorcycle and extinguished his emergency lights when the motorcycle fled at a high rate of speed," a news release said.

As the biker sped away, he hit the 18-year-old woman as she was crossing the street.

Bystanders tried to save the young woman in the crosswalk, and the other four pedestrians hit by the driverless motorcycle suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Only one was taken to the hospital.

The motorcyclist was also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He has not been charged "at this time," police said, but the investigation remains ongoing.