Nine-Year-old Boy Struck and Killed While on Bicycle

Pleasanton, Calif. (KCBS) -- Police are continuing to investigate the incident in which a 9-year-old Pleasanton boy was struck and killed while riding a bicycle Friday afternoon.

The boy has been identified as Shawn Niethammer, according to the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau.

Shawn was hit around 5:30 p.m. Friday in the 700 block of Palomino Drive in Pleasanton, according to police.

According to an initial investigation, Shawn was struck by a late-model Lincoln sport utility vehicle as he rode out of a driveway onto Palomino Drive.

Even though Shawn was wearing a bicycle helmet, he sustained severe neck and spine injuries and despite emergency medical attention, was pronounced dead 45 minutes later at Valley Care Medical Center.

The driver of the vehicle, a 53-year-old Pleasanton man, stopped immediately and is fully cooperating with investigators, police reported.