A Bronx man was struck and killed as he ran across the N.J. Turnpike Thursday night after leaving a bus.
EAST BRUNSWICK -- A Bronx man who was struck and killed Thursday night while crossing the Turnpike had apparently left a bus parked along the southbound outer lanes and run across the highway, State Police said.
Police said troopers received a call at 11:15 p.m. that there was a disorderly person on a bus parked on the shoulder of the southbound outer lanes of the Turnpike at milepost 78.7. A minute later, troopers were advised that a pedestrian may have been struck in the northbound inner lanes at the same location.
When the troopers arrived, they found that the man, identified as Dwight Sanders, 56, of the Bronx, N.Y., who had been reported by the bus driver as being disorderly, had left the bus and run across the lanes where he was struck by a vehicle, State Police said.
A couple from Virginia was in the car that struck Sanders and was uninjured, police said.
State Police said the incident remains under investigation.
Nicole Sanders, Sanders' niece, said his family is "devastated."
"My uncle meant the world to me," she said. "He died on the anniversary of his mother, Inez Murray's, death. It's so heartbreaking."
She said the family has many unanswered questions and she hopes they find out what happened on the bus Thursday night.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.