CULVER CITY, Calif. -- A man and a woman were arguing in a car when one of them steered the vehicle into a sidewalk after jumping a curb, striking and killing a teacher and injuring several students, police said.

Authorities said as many as eight students were injured.

Students and two chaperons were returning to the Turning Point School when they were stuck by the vehicle in the 8500 block of West National Boulevard in Culver City, according to KNBC-TV.

The students had just left a nearby school when the car roared onto the sidewalk about 3 p.m., Maddox said. The injured children were taken to hospitals, the lieutenant said, adding their conditions and ages were not immediately available.

Police identified the teacher as a woman who worked at Turning Point School, a private school that enrolls students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

"It was like a bowling ball had impacted bowling pins, they just went flying," witness Dennis Bonilla said.

"Kids were full of blood. There was one kid who had ... this huge cable, metal cable, that was wrapped around her neck so we pulled a little bit to try to move the cable," he said. "The other kids were screaming and then there were two or three who were just quiet."

Witnesses described the car as a Volkswagen Jetta.

The car's driver was detained for questioning. The status of the passenger wasn't immediately known, Maddox said.

A witness said he was leaving work when he heard the sounds of screeching tires. He said a woman he believed to be the driver tried initially to leave the scene but he stopped her.