Durham bus strikes, kills pedestrian at downtown station

Durham police are investigating after a bus jumped a curb and killed a woman downtown Thursday.

Lawanda Gail Rigsbee, 56, was standing on the sidewalk at the Durham Station on West Pettigrew Street just before 12:30 p.m. when police say a GoDurham bus struck her as it pulled into Gate A.

Rigsbee was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, according to a press release from the Durham Police Department.

The driver was also hospitalized with serious injuries.

Police have not identified the driver or a potential cause for the accident.

GoDurham spokesperson Scott Thomas referred questions to the Durham Police Department Thursday afternoon.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 3:38 PM.

Tyler Dukes

The News & Observer

919-696-1935

Tyler Dukes is the lead editor for AI innovation in journalism at McClatchy Media, where he leads a small team of journalists that helps the company’s 30 local newsrooms responsibly harness data, automation and artificial intelligence to elevate and strengthen their reporting. He was previously an investigative reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2017, he completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and grew up in Elizabeth City, N.C.