Duluth Police are investigating an accident at the Myers-Wilkins Elementary School. According to a report, police responded to the school at approximately 8:25 a.m. on Friday morning to a report of a vehicle that struck the gymnasium. No students or staff were in the gym at the time of the crash.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. The two people in the vehicle were transported by Mayo Ambulance to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The School District says the gym will be closed until staff can examine the stability of the structure. The school is on SECURE protocol and is business as usual inside.

Adelle Wellens, Communications Officer for Duluth Public Schools tells WDIO News that only the gymnasium is closed at this time. “Thankfully it is an addition on to the original building,” she said in a statement.

According to the initial investigation, officers say the vehicle had two people inside and was traveling down bound N 8th Ave E when it ran a stop sign. The report said the vehicle went through the intersection, down an embankment before crashing into the exterior of the gymnasium. The school gymnasium sustained significant damage.

The front of the vehicle went partially through the wall and debris landed inside the gym.

The focus by school officials was on the safety of the students and staff, working with the Duluth Police and Fire Departments to make sure the integrity of the building was safe. Once students and staff were accounted for, school officials turned to planning and communication to families.

Duluth Superintendent John Magas says the school had a plan ready if they needed to evacuate the building but their facility crew and the fire department assessed the building and determined that “we’re safe here in the building and it’s good to go for now,” Magas added.

Magas says it is important to focus on the students safety.

“Really thinking about how are we making sure that the instruction and the day-to-day support for our students is happening,” Duluth Superintendent John Magas said. “So really thinking about how do we make sure our students are feeling safe, how do we make sure that business as usual can continue as much as possible.”

Magas said thankfully the accident happened less than an hour into the day.

“We’re getting started on our Friday morning routines. Luckily, there was nobody in the gym. Had we had a classroom in the gym, or had a class of students in the gym, things could have been much worse,” he said.

No one was on the sidewalk at the time of the accident.

Magas did say that some other activities like lunchtime will be moved since the cafeteria is next to the gym as officials continue to monitor the structure.

For the time being gym classes at Myers-Wilkins will be taking place either outside or in the media center in the school. Although the gymnasium will be closed until further notice because they are still assessing the structural integrity of the wall.

“We have to make sure that wall is very, very safe, so it could involve patching of something, but given some of the cracks and structures it might involve more intensive work and so we have to make sure that that is done, so really the timeline is dependent on what the assessment of the damage is.”

No further details have been released on the two individuals in the vehicle.

This story has been edited to correct the name of the school.