Was on my way into work this morning and wondered why traffic on 140 (usually a pretty clear highway) was suddenly coming to a halt. Got a mile or so down the road and was forced, along with everyone else, to push over into the right lane to go around the 3 or 4 cruisers that were blocking the left. Just past them was a car which looked as if a giant had eaten it and shat it back out. Near the car was what may have at one point been a young man, but now looked like someone had split his skull with an axe. The police were in the process of puling a sheet over him. Had traffic been moving slower, I'd have tried to get a picture or two.
This was posted on the local paper's website shortly after I'd arrived at work:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120126/NEWS/120129967
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This was posted on the local paper's website shortly after I'd arrived at work:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120126/NEWS/120129967
"
NEW BEDFORD — A single-car crash this morning killed a local high school athlete and injured two of his companions, according to police and school officials.
The crash occurred at approximately 7:30 this morning at Exit 4 on Route 140 northbound, according to police, and one occupant — a 17-year-old student at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School — was pronounced dead on the scene.
The driver and another occupant, both students at GNB Voc-Tech, were transported to St. Luke's Hospital, police said.
The deceased was identified by the superintendent's office as Andrew McCann, the senior captain of GNB Voc-Tech's football and baseball teams. He also ran on the track team, and was enrolled in the school's plumbing shop.
McCann was planning to attend American International College and earn a business management degree, with the goal of becoming a teacher at GNB Voc-Tech, said Linda Enos, the school's superintendent-director.
“(Andrew) was well known and loved by students and teachers alike. Some of us went down to hospital to spend time with the parents. We tried to give as much support as we possibly could.
“This is a huge blow to us. A lot of people are distraught about it,” Enos said.
Friends were already posting condolences on McCann's Facebook this morning.
Enos said the New Bedford, Fairhaven and Dartmouth public schools, as well as Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, sent counselors to GNB Voc-Tech this morning.
“There were so many distraught students and staff here. There were too many for us to handle,” said Enos, adding that counseling will be available all day today and tomorrow.
McCann was a passenger in the car with fellow GNB Voc-Tech seniors Julian Reis, a student in the programming and Web design shop, and Jarrell Ervin, who is in the automotive shop. Both are being treated at St. Luke's Hospital.
“They're both fine,” Enos said.
Massachusetts State Police media spokesman Todd Nolan said troopers were headed to the hospital today to interview both students to determine what happened just before the accident.
Police closed two northbound lanes near the Kings Highway exit on Route 140 while a state police collision reconstruction team investigated the scene this morning, Nolan said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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