It was a scene of horror in a place where children should be safe. So affecting were the tragic events behind the cordon in south-west London on Thursday that DCS Clair Kelland, the senior police officer tasked with updating journalists, was left fighting back tears as she confirmed that a child had died.
Teachers at the preparatory school, who joined hands as the emergency services personnel spoke, were too upset to speak themselves at any length.
“The school community is profoundly affected by this tragedy,” said John Tucker, the chair of the governors. He, the school’s headteacher and its headteacher-elect were unable to go much further than that. He was, perhaps, to be applauded for having the strength to say even that much – reporters had been briefed that the staff were too upset to speak at all.
Later, the school released a statement that said: “We are profoundly shocked by the tragic accident this morning at Wilberforce House and devastated that it has claimed the life of one of our young pupils, as well as injuring several others. Our thoughts are with the bereaved family and with the families of those injured at this terrible time.
“It is still far too soon to fully understand what happened, but we are well aware of the significant impact this dreadful event will have on our pupils and their families. Their welfare remains our top priority and we will be doing everything we can to support them, especially those who suffered injuries.”
In the early afternoon, a line of children could be seen being led away from the site, along with police officers and other adults. A witness said some parents had earlier collected their children, with some described as “distraught”.
Zac Powell told reporters: “I arrived at around quarter past 10, within 15 minutes of the incident happening. I saw a lot of distraught parents rushing from the scene on my arrival.
“Since then, I have seen a lot of parents coming and picking up their children with expressions of relief or despair. There was quite a lot of damage I could see. Even from a distance. Within 15 minutes of my arrival, there were armed police response units here at the scene.”
A woman who arrived at the scene minutes after the crash told how she had spoken to a distraught father whose daughter went to the school. “He said it was a year 3 assembly and his daughter was there. They were finishing school today and it was supposed to be a celebration. The parents were all there with the grade 3s and they were all picnicking. They were all sitting on the lawn. The kids are normally in the playground at the back and this was at the front, so the timing is unbelievable.
“The father was very shaken up. He said he saw the car come through the wall.”
The Study preparatory school sits in the midst of Wimbledon and Putney commons, near a golf club and the bend of a road that forms one side of a square.
Only a 15-minute walk away from the scene, thousands were enjoying the tennis in the sunshine at Wimbledon – oblivious to the tragedy – as the Championships headed into their first weekend. Indeed, as the afternoon wore on, branded vehicles began arriving near the scene dropping off people carrying kit bags back to their quarters, and looking bemusedly at the large police presence.
Some passersby, equally in the dark but spotting the police tape in the mid-afternoon, stopped to ask journalists what had gone on.
The area, though in London, has the feel of a village, with its brick houses and a small pub at the end of the same street as the primary school, where children and staff were looking forward to the end of term.
Images of the scene showed the sort of items that would not look out of place at any school across the country. Behind the little fence marking its boundaries is a grassy play area. A yellow blanket had been spread out on the ground, tables were laden with drinks and food for the children, and chairs set out for them to sit on.
They also showed the most incongruous of things: the large black and gold SUV that had ploughed through the scene and apparently smashed into the side of the building, leaving the wall visibly damaged.
By the middle of the afternoon, a large police cordon had been put in place, stretching on to Wimbledon Common, where officers were moving dog walkers and passersby away from the scene.
An air ambulance was on the edge of the common and several ambulances were parked nearby.
