Dang... I missed this, my wife lived in Jenks and graduated from Jenks High....did anyone catch the name of the boy who died?
Here's the story:
Jenks football player dies in SUV crash
By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
7/13/2006
JENKS -- A 17-year-old Jenks High School student died Wednesday when he was ejected from an SUV that crashed after it was shot at by a paintball gun fired from another carload of Jenks football players.
Garrett Bennett was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the Creek Turnpike just west of U.S. 75, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The driver and another passenger of the crashed sport utility vehicle were taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where they were treated for injuries that were not believed life-threatening.
The teens had just left a paintball competition for junior and senior football players before the crash occurred.
Bennett was a passenger in a 1997 Toyota 4Runner driven by Mitchell Hill, whom troopers identified as 17.
Hill was driving east on the turnpike shortly before noon when a passenger in a 1996 Toyota 4Runner, which was also eastbound, fired paint balls at Hill's vehicle, an OHP report alleges.
The 1996 4Runner was driven by Eric Davis, 17, of Tulsa. The vehicle also contained two passengers, Brad Regal, 17, and Keith Mefford, 18, troopers reported. The seven occupants of both vehicles were all Jenks football players.
Hill's SUV began to swerve as he passed the SUV Davis was driving, troopers reported. He apparently lost control of the vehicle, which crossed the median and the westbound lanes of the highway, striking a speed limit sign and then overturning several times, the report states.
Although troopers noted that seat belts were used by all four passengers in the wrecked vehicle, Bennett was ejected. He would have been a senior next school year, school officials said.
Hill and Jacob Laptad, 18, were taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. Hill had cuts to his head and neck and was treated and released, but Laptad, who reportedly had a concussion and received 38 stitches in his left hand, was kept overnight. A fourth passenger, identified by troopers as Luke Hill, the 19-year-old brother of the driver, declined treatment at the scene.
Football players and coaches met at their locker room after the fatal crash, said Tara Thompson, director of communications for Jenks Public Schools.
Counselors will be at the Jenks High School Counseling Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday to talk to any students, she said.
"Our prayers and hearts go out to the families right now at this tragic time," Thompson said.
Offensive line coach David Alexander joined the Trojans coaching staff this spring and knew Bennett through off-season workouts.
He said the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Bennett had been projected to start at center this fall and that the offensive lineman was the type of young man every coach seeks to build a program.
"Garrett grew up in the Jenks system," Alexander said. "He was your typical Jenks football player. His whole life was Jenks football. "He was a quiet young man. He never missed a workout. I think he enjoyed being with his teammates as much as he did the Friday night experience." Alexander also praised Bennett as a team player.
"Every program needs this type of young man -- the kind you trust, the kind you didn't have to worry about," he said. "Garrett wasn't looking to be a star. He just wanted to be part of a championship program and do whatever he could to make the Jenks football team better."
Isaac Norman, who graduated from Jenks High School this year and was a teammate of Bennett's, said they were good friends. "He was just a great guy," Norman said. "He was always laughing and smiling, and he was very athletically talented." Norman said he has talked to a few football team members and that they are all in shock.
"You never think that anything like this would happen, at least not to a close friend and a good guy like Garrett," he said.
"He didn't deserve what happened today. . . . He didn't deserve to die this early," Norman said. "You want to have fun; you do something and don't think a lot of of it, and you don't really think of the consequences until something like this happens."
Although a preliminary report on the crash was released Wednesday, troopers are continuing to investigate the circumstance that led to the crash.
Lt. Phil Guest said Oklahoma Highway Patrol regional fatal crash investigators will be conducting other interviews and will present their final report to the District Attorney's Office.
World staff writer Lynn Jacobson contributed to this story.
Nicole Marshall 581-8459
[email protected]