Toddler killed by police officer in ‘terrible accident’ as he brought the man his hat

A Carolina Beach Police Officer ran over a 19-month-old child after the little boy darted out in front of his pickup trying to bring the man his hat, according to local press reports.

The officer, Colby Edens, hit and killed the boy as he was leaving a home on Kiwi Lane in Wilmington on Tuesday night, the Wilmington StarNews reports. The 19-month-old, Lucas Marcinko, was the son of a woman Edens had been visiting for dinner, television station WECT reported.

The officer even walked around the truck before departing, to make sure no children were around, but as Edens was pulling forward the boy darted in front of the vehicle a Ford F-150 pickup truck, State Highway Patrol Sgt. E.C. Harris said. The boy died of his injuries, Harris said.

The boy was apparently bringing Edens the hat he had forgotten inside, Harris said. According to WECT, the boy’s mother and Edens were dating.

Harris said he did not expect charges to be filed against Edens. Tuesday night, crying neighbors huddled in the roadway leading up to the home sharing hugs and prayers for both the child and officer, StarNews reports said.

“We have no indication that there was any inattention on (Edens') part,” Harris said to StarNews. “There was nothing on his part that would have led to him being contributory other than it being a terrible accident.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Toddler killed by police officer in ‘terrible accident’ as he brought the man his hat."