The Citrus County community is grieving after a Citrus High School senior died in a car crash.
The accident happened around 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, along East Gospel Island Road near South Van Buck Drive in Inverness.
This is the second CHS student to die in two weeks.
8 On Your Side spoke with the man who lives where the crash happened. He said he and his wife are still numb after what they saw.
“We heard it; it shook the house,” Mark Beck said.
Beck and his wife heard a loud bang from outside their home on Wednesday morning.
He said they ran to the window to see what happened and saw a car split in two pieces in their front yard.
“I was stunned, because literally the car, I looked out that window, and the car was here and he was in full view,” he said. “It was the worst. Nobody would ever expect that.”
Florida Highway Patrol said behind the wheel was an 18-year-old student from Citrus High School; and that the driver lost control of the car and hit a tree.
“My wife is a nurse, she immediately came out to check any signs of life, he wasn’t breathing, had no pulse,” Beck said. “I called 911 and got a sheet and covered the car up.”
Wednesday’s crash is the second fatal wreck the school district has experienced.
Earlier in the month, a 16-year-old was killed when four teens were involved in a fiery crash in Sumter County.
“It is a tragedy,” Beck said. “It’s just terrible, no words.”
The school district sent 8 On Your Side this statement:
The Citrus County School District continues to grieve alongside the Citrus High School community following the tragic loss of two students in separate car accidents within the first weeks of school,” says Superintendent Dr. Scott Hebert. “The impact on our Hurricanes family has been profound, and we are committed to surrounding both students and staff with the care and support they need during this difficult time.”
Members of our District Student Services team — including school counselors, social workers, and psychologists — are on campus daily to provide comfort, guidance, and resources to students and staff. Additional support is coordinated based on the school’s needs.
Thanks to the generosity of the Citrus County Education Foundation, meals have been provided for staff throughout the week, and snacks have been made available in the CHS media center for students who need a comforting space to gather and talk.
We are inspired by the resilience of our students, including members of the senior class who have expressed interest in leading efforts to raise awareness about safe driving and seatbelt use in the wake of these tragedies. Their desire to turn grief into action reflects the strength and compassion of our community.
We ask for continued thoughts, prayers, and support for the families, friends, and staff members affected by these heartbreaking losses.
“He had his seatbelt on, the airbags deployed, everything did what it was supposed to do, but that was just too violent of a crash,” he said.
Beck said his entire neighborhood ran to help and that everyone is trying to process this trauma.
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Source: wfla
