Young trick-or-treater hit and killed crossing Minneapolis parkway

A 5-year-old trick-or-treater was run over by a car and killed while crossing Victory Memorial Parkway in north Minneapolis well after dark Saturday, authorities said Sunday.

The driver, from Minneapolis, stopped after hitting the boy about 9:25 p.m. on westbound Memorial Parkway near Knox Avenue N. and was cooperating, police said.

Officers responding to the scene found the boy in critical condition after he was trapped under the car, according to police.

The boy was taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, where he died. His identity has yet to be released.

Police do not believe that the driver, whose identity has not been disclosed, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. There is no word on whether the driver was speeding or distracted.

Authorities have yet to say whether the boy was crossing at a designated spot on the parkway.

Adults were with the boy, who was out for trick-or-treating, said police spokesman John Elder, who added that he did not know whether the child was wearing reflective clothing or carrying any illumination.

On Sunday evening, the boy's family circled a growing memorial near the site of the collision. About two dozen relatives hugged one another and lit candles.

Balloons, flowers and a white cross with the word "hijo" — Spanish for son — sat in a tire track left in the grass near where the boy was hit.

"The car was on the grass on the north side of the parkway," said John Harris, who lives nearby. "I saw [emergency responders] working on someone next to the car and saw them put him on the gurney."

The portion of the parkway — also known as Victory Memorial Drive — where the boy was hit runs east-west and parallel to 45th Avenue N.

Star Tribune staff writer Karen Zamora contributed to this report. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482