Lawrence police Monday identified an 18-year-old Kansas University student from Derby as the pedestrian critically injured in an accident early Sunday in the 1600 block of Tennessee Street.

Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence police spokesman, said Colby J. Liston was trying to enter a 1999 Ford Explorer that had stopped in the right lane on Tennessee Street when he was struck by another southbound vehicle. He was pinned between the two vehicles. The accident occurred at 1:26 a.m., and police responded within one minute, McKinley said.

Derby High School football coach Brandon Clark told the Varsity Kansas blog, operated by KSN-TV and the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, that the accident severed Liston’s legs below his knees. Liston played football and ran track at Derby High School.

Liston was taken to Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., where he was listed in serious condition Monday. Other people trying to enter the Explorer suffered minor injuries.

Tennessee Street is a one-way street on which traffic travels south just east of the KU campus.

“Intoxicants were present in the involved parties, and blood test results are pending.” McKinley said. “Investigative reports, including test results, will be forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office when they become available.”

No tickets were issued at the scene.

McKinley identified Dustin A. Erickson, 21, also of Derby, as the driver of the Ford Explorer that Liston was getting into. The driver of the southbound vehicle that struck the Explorer from behind was Julian M. Kuszmaul, a 21-year-old KU student from Lawrence.

Police were continuing to investigate the crash on Monday.

Investigators had determined that Erickson’s vehicle had slowed and stopped in the right lane to pick up people from a nearby party. As the Explorer was stopped in the street, pedestrians crossed from the east side of the street toward the vehicle. The people were entering the vehicle through the rear cargo door of the Explorer. Liston had crossed the street and was preparing to enter the vehicle when he was struck by a 2005 Ford Explorer driven by Kuszmaul.

“The vehicle struck Mr. Liston as he was in the street behind the stopped Explorer, crushing him between the vehicles and causing some of the occupants of the stopped vehicle to fall from the cargo area into the street,” McKinley said.