Man Killed By Bus While Trying To Help Child
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- A Bourbonnais man is being remembered as a hero, for pushing a child out of the path of an oncoming bus, which took the man's own life.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Mike Krauser reports, everybody knew Thomas Dunn Jr., 46, by his middle name, Jim.
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He was an auxiliary police officer for almost 20 years – a volunteer position – and worked at a school for kids with special needs.
He was helping a child cross the street, at Convent Street and John Casey Road, this past Monday afternoon, when a bus approached.
Witnesses say he pushed the child out of the way, and was hit and killed by the bus himself.
"Words are really hard to find to describe him," said Bourbonnais police Chief Greg Kunce. "His heart was good as gold; good community man. There's not too many things he would not do. If you called he was the first guy to come through the door, 'what do you need?'"
Dunn is an 18-year veteran of the police auxiliary, and a native of Kankakee who earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University and a master's degree from Olivet Nazarene University, according to the Kankakee Daily Journal. An autopsy on Dunn was scheduled for sometime Wednesday.
The circumstances of the accident remain under investigation.
