Witness: On a 'mission to self-destruct,' man crashes into Evangelical Christian School. School closed Thursday

A man crashed his vehicle into Evangelical Christian School on Wednesday, with a witness calling it "a mission to self-destruct."  

The Lee County Sheriff's Office confirmed the driver's death but did not identify him. The school will be closed on Thursday.

Witnesses saw the tan sedan speeding as it approached the school, hit a short footbridge and launched against the building, said Todd Stubing, a video production and computer skills teacher at the school. 

The frame of the car remained crushed against the building Wednesday night.

"I heard a horn honk, and I heard the engine rev," said Stubing, a former News-Press staffer.

The driver just missed Juliette Cameron and her sons, Alex and Sean, who she was picking up from their after-school activities. 

"We saw this car coming from the far end of the street, and it was just hurtling toward us," Cameron said. "It was inescapable. We must have just had our mouths open because it came and it just veered toward us, but there's nothing you can do. He narrowly missed us by just inches."

She said she felt her vehicle move as the vehicle sped by her.

"We watched it just plow into the school at the end, and Alex said 'that’s the school, that’s the school'," Cameron said."We can't believe he just went into the school."

She said she was worried because she thought he might hit someone, but onlookers were unscathed. He was holding onto the steering wheel very tightly and appeared to be in control, she added.

"He had a wild look on his face,"  Cameron said. "I think the man was on a mission to self-destruct."

School Headmaster John Hunte said the campus will be closed on Thursday and classes have been canceled. The area where the vehicle struck is a hallway that connects two of the buildings, he said. 

"I am so thankful though that no students or any employees were injured," he said. 

Hunte said the school will have to assess the damage to the building to see it is safe.

"The few people that saw him, no one said that they recognized him," he said. "I don't know of any connection at all with whoever the driver was at this time."

Wednesday is the day of the week known for having the least number of people on campus after school lets out, he said. 

"A lot of practices are short," he said. "Of all the days of the week we are thankful it was on this Wednesday."

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