CAIRO — The Grady County school system is mourning the death of an Eastside Elementary School student who died Monday morning after being struck by a car.

Investigators with the Cairo Police Department say the 6-year old boy was crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SW near Legion Boulevard with his sister at about 7:30 a.m. when the incident occurred.

According to school Superintendent Kermit Gilliard, the boy, a first grader at Eastside, was crossing the street headed to a bus stop on Legion Boulevard when he suddenly turned around to cross back across the road. A vehicle traveling westbound on MLK hit the boy as he doubled back across the road.

The boy’s sister, a fourth grader, continued across the street and was unharmed.

A Washington Middle School teacher at the scene who witnessed the incident called 911.

There is no crossing guard at the section of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue where the incident occurred, Gilliard said.

A Grady County Schools crisis team has been put on alert to work with faculty, staff and students at Eastside throughout the week as needed.

Police say the circumstances of the crash are currently being investigated.