ELKHART – A car that carries US representative Jackie Walorski According to new information from the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, a vehicle crossed the center line of Indiana 19 and collided with oncoming traffic (R-2 District).
Four people died in Wednesday’s crash, including Walorski and two other people in the car, 27-year-old Zach Potts and 28-year-old Emma Thomson. Napanee resident Edith Schmucker, 56, was traveling in the other direction when she was struck by Walorski’s car and also died at the scene.
Walorski, 58, has served in Indiana’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013.
Potts was chairman of the St. Joseph County Republican Party. Thomson was Walorski’s director of communications. The group is reported to have returned from a ribbon cutting ceremony in Claypool.
Information released Thursday by Elkhart County police contradicts what the department initially said about the circumstances of the crash. Police initially said Schmucker was driving a maroon Buick LeSabre north on Indiana 19 when he crossed the center line and struck a silver Toyota RAV 4 driven by Potts heading south.
Police now say Walorski and her team were northbound while Potts “crossed the center line for unknown reasons” and struck Schmucker, who was southbound. The crash happened just south of the roundabout where Indiana 19 connects to Indiana 119.
“Information from the initial investigation at the scene regarding the direction of travel of the vehicles was incorrect,” Elkhart County police said in a statement, adding that they learned of witnesses and video that contradicted the initial report.
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The Tribune’s messages to the Elkhart Sheriff’s Office and the Elkhart County Coroner were not returned as of Thursday morning. Indianapolis television station Fox59 Wednesday night before 8 p.m. reported that the department had retracted its initial statement, but The Tribune could not confirm the retraction. The department on Thursday at 10:26 a.m. posted a new post that fixes the bug. The department’s Facebook page was updated to correct the error at 11:05 a.m. Thursday.
The report added that all people involved in the crash were wearing seat belts and the airbags deployed.