DATELINE STILLWATER OKLAHOMA: A tragic day as a parade ends with a fatal crash..

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As the Associated Press dispatch reports: 

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Lawn chairs, blankets and water bottles were strewn in the street and bodies remained at the scene as Oklahoma State University fans walked past an intersection where a woman had plowed her car into a homecoming parade crowd hours earlier and killed four people.

Some lingered Saturday to look at the aftermath that also included a gray car with a smashed side and shattered windshield, and a crumpled motorcycle. Dozens more were injured in the collision that sent some spectators flying through the air.

The driver is suspected of being under the influence, and investigators were awaiting results of blood tests to determine if she was impaired by drugs or alcohol.

And this: 

Three adults died at the scene and a 2-year-old boy died later, Stillwater police Capt. Kyle Gibbs said. He said 44 people were injured.

Adacia Chambers, a 25-year-old Stillwater resident, was arrested on the DUI charge after the morning crash

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Not to take anything away from the victims of this tragedy, but I remember one that was narrowly averted when I was a younger child.. Around the age of 8 or 9, I remember being at the Ashland PA ‘ABA parade’ on a cool September night, standing at the top of town in rows of people near the May’s Restaurant. I have a vivid memory of a car going too fast in the parade–it was actually one of the cars IN the parade.. the car was coming straight for the crowd that I was standing in but made a sharp turn to the right at the last minute.. It was later found out that the man driving the car had a heart attack and someone who was a passenger took over at exactly the right moment. So right that if it did not occur, I may not have been typing this blog post right now..

I can only imagine the suffering that these families are going through–especially when a 2-year-old passes away from the moronic choice a drunk driver made by getting into a car and plowing into a crowd of people. It’s disgusting..

May the collective consciousnesses of all who are thinking or praying for them shine on them.