Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins shared this message on Facebook earlier today regarding the fatal accident at 52nd and O Street over Memorial Day weekend.
The Facebook message reads:
We want to share with you some information I was just made aware of yesterday afternoon regarding the devastating Memorial Day weekend crash here in Lincoln that has since been reported on by the media.
While evaluating our response to the fatal crash that occurred at 52nd and ‘O’ Street on Sunday, May 29th we discovered a devastating miscommunication with a family member at the scene.
The family member, Tesfaye Alibe, was called to the scene by a bystander who told him his daughter, Hannah, was hit by a vehicle. When Mr. Alibe arrived, he ran to one of the cars involved in the crash, pointed to one of the deceased, and told the officers it was his daughter. The officers, who had just been performing life-saving measures, confirmed she had not survived.
Mr. Alibe stayed on scene with officers and as additional information was gathered on his daughter it was determined she was not one of the young women killed in the vehicle. Hannah was one of the bystanders injured in the crash and had been taken to the hospital where she was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
We recognize the grief this tragic misunderstanding caused for all involved. We continue to work with Mr. Alibe and have acknowledged our sincere regret. We are grateful to report Hannah’s condition is improving and hope for the continued improvement of the 19 additional victims.