Oakland, California: One-Year-Old Dies After Falling From a Moving Vehicle at a School Parking Lot

A one-year-old child died at a hospital after falling from a moving vehicle on Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot area of Northern Light School in the Oakland Hills, Oakland police and Mayor Barbara Lee said.

The crash happened at about 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, on the 3700 block of Dorisa Avenue, near Golf Links Road, according to the Oakland Police Department account carried by KTVU. Northern Light School, a kindergarten through eighth grade school, is located on that block.

What police and the mayor said

In an initial statement, police said a child had been struck in the crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Later on Tuesday, Mayor Lee confirmed that the child had died after falling from a moving vehicle.

"Words cannot fully express the grief we feel for the family and loved ones during this painful time. My deepest condolences and prayers are with them, as well as with our first responders. I ask everyone in our city to hold this family in their hearts tonight," Lee said in a social media post.

In a statement to CBS News Bay Area, carried by KION, Oakland police said the toddler died at the hospital. Police said it does not appear that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the incident, which remains under investigation. In the first police account reported by KTVU, officers said it was unknown whether drugs or alcohol were a factor, and the later statement to CBS News Bay Area is the most recent police position reported.

Local NBC station KNTV reported that the victim was a girl, according to PEOPLE. The child has not been identified, and police have released no name.

The investigation

The circumstances of the fall are still under investigation, and police have released few other details about how the child came to fall from the vehicle or what happened in the parking lot in the minutes before it.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department Traffic Investigation Unit at 510-777-8570. Photos or videos that may help investigators can be sent to [email protected], according to KRON, as reported by PEOPLE.

The death was reported across the Bay Area on Wednesday, October 28, as Oakland residents reacted to a loss the mayor called an unimaginable tragedy in her first statement on Tuesday evening.