‘Absolute tragedy’: Fifteen-year-old boy walking home from school killed in crash — allegedly by 15-year-old driver

A 15-year-old boy walking home from school died Wednesday after being struck in a hit-and-run on the west Mountain.

Hamilton police allege another 15-year-old teen was behind the wheel of the vehicle that struck the boy at Upper Paradise and Stone Church roads around 2:55 p.m. - just a half-hour after the final bell rung at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School where both kids were students.

This is an absolute tragedy and it's unacceptable," Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said at a press conference late Wednesday night.

Ernst said the teen driver was travelling northbound on Upper Paradise when he allegedly struck his schoolmate near a side street.

The teen victim was critically injured and died in hospital.

The teen driver, meanwhile, allegedly fled the scene of the crash and struck another vehicle - a white BMW SUV - before being arrested on foot by responding officers, Ernst said.

He's been charged with failure to remain at a crash causing death.

It remains unclear how the teenager got control of the car he was in. Ernst said the vehicle - the model of which she wouldn't disclose - wasn't stolen.

Also unclear is the relationship between the two boys, and whether the driver targeted the victim.

I'm not going to go into the details of the investigation ... all of that is going to be before the courts," Ernst said. What I can say is there are lots of avenues for this investigation and as the evidence comes in, there may be additional charges."

Police are not looking for any other suspects.

Investigators are urging people who were in the area at the time - homeowners, people at businesses, drivers - to review any available surveillance or dashcam footage and contact police.

Ernst said the teenage victim's family has been notified.

I can only imagine the emotion they're going through and we want to make sure that family has their space as they work through this."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com