A female student at Harding University died early Friday after she was struck Thursday by a patrol car driven by a White County sheriff's deputy.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said state authorities are investigating the crash that killed 24-year-old graduate student Courtney Book.
Sadler said the collision happened shortly after 9 p.m. as Book was riding a bicycle on Booth Road in Searcy. The vehicle struck the bicycle from behind, Sadler said. Booth was taken to UAMS Medical Center, where she died shortly after 2:30 a.m.
Sadler said additional information would be released shortly.
A message left with White County Chief Deputy Phillip Miller wasn't immediately returned. However, the Associated Press reports that Miller said the collision appears to be an accident, and the department doesn't anticipate taking any personnel action against the driver, whom he identified as Lt. Brandon Grimes.
David Crouch, a spokesman for the university, said Book was in her first year of a master's program for education after earning an undergraduate degree from Harding last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.