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| Lt. Dexter Holcomb was struck by this school bus Friday afternoon as he directed after-school traffic. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star |
OXFORD — An Oxford police officer died Friday afternoon after he was struck by an Oxford High School bus while he directed traffic as school was let out.
The driver of the school bus was in intensive care at University Hospitals in Birmingham Friday night as a result of the unidentified medical condition that apparently caused the accident.
Lt. Dexter Holcomb, 46, a 20-plus-year veteran of the Oxford Police force, died of multiple blunt-force traumas after he was airlifted to a Birmingham hospital, according to police.
Oxford Fire Capt. Gary Sparks said Holcomb was struck and pinned under the front axle of the bus after the bus driver apparently lost control of the vehicle.
Oxford Police Capt. Bill Partridge identified the bus driver as Mary Mizzell, 55, and said students on the bus reported seeing her experience some kind of medical distress before losing control.
Mizzell initially was transported to Regional Medical Center, then was transferred to the University Hospitals in Birmingham Friday evening, Sparks said.
A hospital spokesperson said Mizzell was in intensive care Friday night, but declined to release information on her condition.
Sparks said he had been told the driver was showing symptoms of stroke, but he said he did not know what exactly caused the bus to go off course and strike Holcomb.
Partridge said there was no evidence of wrongdoing and police are treating the incident as purely accidental.
The bus wound up in the front yard of a house at 229 Snow Street, across from the school’s administration building.
Partridge said Holcomb didn’t see the bus in time to try to dodge it.
Students on the bus did not report any injuries, but appeared to be very upset, according to police and fire officials.
Holcomb, who leaves a wife, daughter and son, wasn’t scheduled to work traffic control Friday, but volunteered when the scheduled officer was pulled away by a call for service.
Flags all over the city were lowered to half staff Friday evening and will remain lowered until after the funeral, police said.
Oxford High Principal Trey Holladay said additional counselors will be available at the school Monday if any students need to talk about the incident.
Holladay declined to comment on the accident itself or to say whether the driver had had any previous medical problems.
The mood at the Oxford police department was somber, with normally boisterous officers speaking in hushed tones.
“I don’t know what to say,” said one investigator. “We’re all just in shock.”
Officers said Holcomb was from Piedmont and had spent more than 20 years on the force. He had directed traffic plenty of times through out those years and served as the first-shift supervisor and the department’s training officer.
Holcomb, who was also a volunteer firefighter in Piedmont, is remembered as a good supervisor who was seemingly always willing to listen to other officers.
“He was a friend to everyone,” said Partridge, who worked with Holcomb for 18 years.
Memorial services for Holcomb had not been scheduled Friday night, but the family has selected Thompson’s Funeral home to direct the service.
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