Boy, 12, dies after being struck by car BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer OLD BRIDGE - A 12-year-old township boy died Monday after being hit by a pickup truck on Laurence Parkway. The boy, Wen J. Zheng, was crossing Laurence Parkway with his grandmother, Rui Wang, near Lisa Pizza, off Route 35, when he was struck by the vehicle at 7:22 p.m., according to Old Bridge Police Capt. Robert Bonfante. The driver, a 24-year-old Perth Amboy man, was reportedly making a right turn onto Laurence Parkway from Route 35 in his Dodge Ram pickup truck when the boy tripped and fell over a guardrail while crossing the road with his grandmother. The Laurence Harbor First Aid Squad transported the boy to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead. The child's 69-year-old grandmother was also taken to the hospital due to shock from the accident. "Everybody is still in shock," Bonfante said. The police investigation is ongoing, Bonfante said, but it is unlikely that the accident will result in any charges against the driver. The boy was a sixth-grade student at Carl Sandburg Middle School, Route 516, and was a resident of Prospect Avenue in the Laurence Harbor section, according to Sandburg School Vice Principal Robert Ericksen. He said Wen entered the school district two years ago, starting at Cheesequake Elementary School. Wen was in the school's English as a Second Language program, Ericksen said. "He took great pride in learning the English language," Ericksen said. "I talked to one of his teachers, Mrs. [Pamela] Orner, and she said that he always wanted to learn." A child study team was at Sandburg School earlier this week, along with counselors from other district schools and the guidance department to provide support for grieving friends and faculty. "He was a great kid," Ericksen said. "He was a kid who was always asking questions. He could never do enough."