A five-car crash occurred at approximately 8:10 a.m. on Friday at the southwest side of the intersection of Churchill Avenue and Alma Street, drawing police cars, fire trucks and ambulances to the scene.

Junior Julianna Walrod, who witnessed the crash, said police directed traffic away from the intersection. Freshman Brody Simison, who also saw the accident on his way to school, said fire trucks and ambulances arrived shortly after.

“Shrapnel from the car had fallen all over the cement on the street on Alma outside of our house while I was biking to school,” Simison said. “I looked to my left and heard a big bang and then the car was broken into pieces [that] were all over the street.”

According to Walrod, three of the five cars suffered the most from the accident.

“There was one car that was perpendicular to the road, there was another one that had its front all smashed up [and] there was another one that had the right side all smashed up,” Walrod said.

However, the crash did not obstruct the sidewalk, so students walking to school were still able to enter Paly, according to Walrod.

Simison said police promptly arrived at the scene to redirect traffic and talk to the people involved in the accident.

“There were ambulances too,” senior Grace Rowell said. “I saw a car in front and then there were a bunch of police cars twenty feet away and then there was one a couple blocks down.”

According to Paly math teacher Natalie Dockter, the accident interfered with her usual path to school.

“I saw all the traffic and the flashing lights, so I turned and went a different way,” Dockter said.

An email was sent to teachers the morning of the crash to let teachers know that students may arrive late to class.

More information to come.