COLUMBUS, Ind. — A high school student preparing to board a school bus was struck and killed Monday morning in south-central Indiana by a car whose driver was taken into custody after fleeing the scene, police said.

The Columbus East High School student was pronounced dead at a hospital after being struck about 6:55 a.m. while trying to board the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. bus, police said.

Witnesses reported that after the passenger car struck the student, the vehicle left the scene but a person who had witnessed the student being hit followed the car.

Police said the motorist was located a short time later along a county road and he was taken into custody in Columbus, a city about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Indianapolis, The Republic reported.

Major Chris Lane with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office said the department was working with Bartholomew County School Corp. in its investigation of the student’s death.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. A tragic event like this affects many people and we are thinking of everyone involved,” Lane said in a statement.

Additional information, including the identity of both the suspect and student who died was expected to be released later Monday.