A teenager who was role-playing as a zombie has been run over and killed by a bus carrying paintballers inside an Idaho corn maze.
Jeremy T McSpadden Jr, 18, of Spokane Valley, Washington, stumbled, fell and was run over under the rear passenger wheel of a bus which was part of a “Zombie Slayer Bus Ride” held at the Incredible Corn Maze in Hauser, Idaho.
“Many of the patrons believed it was just part of the ride,” said a release from the Kootenai County sheriff’s office. “It was not until the bus had travelled away from the victim’s location and the role players began to reset for the next bus to come along that anyone realized something was wrong.”
McSpadden was likely killed instantly when he was run over at about 10.30pm on Friday. Officials do not believe alcohol or speed were factors. The bus was “creeping along”, witnesses said, at a speed not registered on the speedometer.
“The focus of the attraction is the bus creeps forward so the customers have plenty of opportunity to blast away at the zombies,” Sergeant Crawford Ward told the Associated Press. “This looks like it was just a horrific confluence of events.”
The Zombie Slayer Bus Ride was added to the Incredible Corn Maze this year and appeared to be a popular addition to a 12-acre site which local media outlets have reported as “longtime” area Halloween attraction.
Organizers announced on Facebook that all events were canceled for the weekend.
The town of Hauser has less than 700 residents, according to the 2010 census, and is along the Washington state line.