Teen killed by bus at Incredible Corn Maze

HAUSER, Idaho — Update 10/11/2014 1 p.m.: The Incredible Corn Maze released the following statement on their Facebook page:

“We are sorry to announce that all attractions, including the free drive inn movie has been cancelled for the remainder of the weekend. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. Please check back as we will continue to make posts regarding operations. Thank you.”

Update 10/11/2014 11:40 a.m.: The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office released the following information on their Facebook page:

“The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Investigation Team has concluded its preliminary investigation of the fatal incident that occurred at the ‘Incredible Corn Maze’, in the ‘Zombie Slayer Paintball Bus’ attraction. Patrons of this particular part of the Maze board a bus, essentially a modified school bus, with paintball guns mounted outside the windows, and shoot paintballs at ‘zombies’ who emerge from the maze and other hiding places and ‘attack’ the bus.

“Investigation to this point indicates that the victim, Jeremy T. McSpadden Jr. was performing his zombie role, emerged from his hiding spot and ran toward the bus. As he did, multiple witness accounts indicate he stumbled, falling forward and landed directly in front of the passenger side rear tires of the bus, and was immediately run over. It appears that McSpadden Jr. was killed instantly. The bus was moving in a forward direction at the time and was described as ‘creeping along’ at a speed that did not even register on the speedometer.

“Due to the uneven terrain of the corn field, rocking of the bus is common and nobody was immediately aware of the tragedy that had just occurred. Many of the patrons believed it was just part of the ride. 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. Emergency services were immediately summoned.

“An autopsy is pending. The results of that will most likely not be available for a couple of weeks. There is no further information available at this time.”

Original article: A teen was struck and killed by a bus at the site of the Incredible Corn Maze at 3404 N. Beck Rd., near Hauser, Idaho at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Friday.

Jeremy T McSpadden Jr., 18 , of Spokane Valley, Wash., was acting as a role-player and was struck by a bus inside the zombie attraction at the Incredible Corn Maze. McSpadden was significantly injured and died at the scene. His next of kin have been notified.

The Kootenai County Sheriff Traffic Investigation Team is investigating the incident and is conducting interviews with witnesses. Alcohol doesn’t appear to be a factor.