3 children, 2 officers and a teacher hospitalized after truck crashes into Palos Park church

Three children were hospitalized after a driver having a medical emergency crashed through the wall of a church in Palos Park Friday afternoon, according to Palos Park police.

The driver had been going eastbound on McCarthy Road at 4:30 p.m. when police say he appeared to have a medical emergency and veered off 123rd Street into 86th Avenue, into the parking lot of Transfiguration Church and eventually into the side of the building.

Three children were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn; two remain hospitalized as of early Saturday morning, police said. The driver, a 29-year-old Oak Forest man, was taken to Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital for minor injuries.

Two Palos Park officers were also hospitalized with lung issues after inhaling building debris while responding to the injured children, police said; one officer was released early Saturday morning. A church staff member was also hospitalized after suffering a medical emergency at the scene.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“We saw courageous teachers and people running toward the problem rather than away from it, we saw people being action-oriented and neighborly, reaching out, being supportive, generous and selfless,” a statement from Palos Park police said. “In this chaotic event, we experienced the very best of our friends and neighbors.”

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