Girl Scouts sing in the rain on Nov. 4, 2018, for a candlelight vigil at Halmstad Elementary School in Chippewa Falls, Wis.(Photo: Steve Kinderman, AP)

The driver of a pickup was "huffing" chemicals before slamming into a group of Girl scouts collecting trash from a rural Wisconsin road, killing three children and a chaperone, Monday said authorities.

Colten Treu, 21, et al.

Hallie Lake Police Chief Cal Smokowicz said the victims were wearing green "highly visible" safety and were working in a ditch beyond the road and its gravel shoulder at the time of Saturday's crash. He said that he was a black man, and that he had to go to the front of the line and to the opposite.

"This is a horrible reminder of our country's epidemic of self-indulging substance abuse without a look of the consequences," Smokowicz said. "Words can not describe our Lake Hallie community for our witnesses, victims and their families.

more: 'I'm in shock about the whole thing': 3 Girl Scouts killed in roadside crash

He said that it was a hit and died, but that the truck was leaping fluids and was tracked to an address almost two miles away. Truro was gone even, Smokowicz said.

"Those subjects who have been intentionally inhaling chemical vapors, which is commonly called huffing, just prior to the accident," Smokowicz said.

Killed were Jayna Kelley, 9, Autum Helgeson, 10, Haylee Hickle, 10, and Haylee's mother, 32-year-old Sara Jo Schneider, police said. Another 10-year-old girl, whose name was not released, remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday.

Halmstad Elementary. Halmstad Elementary. On Sunday, hundreds of community members gathered outside the school, holding candles and umbrellas and signing songs to honor the victims. The school district is offering counseling to students and parents.

Smokowicz said an investigation into the crash was continuing.

"This senseless crash was completely avoidable," he added.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/11/05/girl-scout-deaths-driver-huffing-before-crash-killed-kids/1893791002/