Florida woman hit, killed by Orange City police car while crossing road, troopers say

ORANGE CITY, Fla. - A Florida woman is dead after she was hit by an Orange City Police Department vehicle while crossing a road early Monday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The 60-year-old Deltona woman was not using a crosswalk when she was hit by the vehicle she reportedly walked in front of, FHP said. Her identity has not been released. 

Troopers said the crash happened around 2:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 17-92 near the intersection Enterprise Road in Orange City. The driver of the police vehicle was traveling southbound on U.S. 17-92 and was merging into the left turn lane to make a left turn onto Enterprise Road when the crash happened. He was not hurt.

Orange City Police Lt. Sherif El-Shami said the officer is a traffic homicide investigator with the department and will take time off to cope with the incident.

"We make sure that his mental state of mind and his emotional state of mind is adequate for the job," said Lt. El-Shami. 

FOX 35 News was there as troopers and police worked to detour traffic Monday morning. A woman visiting a nearby business said she used to live across the street.  Gabrielle Lazarus thinks the area needs more accessible crosswalks and better lighting. 

"Personally, I think this part of the road needs to be lit up, and maybe a stop light put in," she said.

Lt. El-Shami said lighting in the area may be a topic for further discussion, though it is being discussed as an unfortunate accident. 

"You always want to look at how can we can prevent these in the future," he said. 

The crash remains under investigation.