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BHS teen killed, four injured in crash
A Battlefield student was killed and four others were injured on Tuesday night when they hit a deer and then a tree on Logmill Road in Haymarket.Kendra Tucker, 15, died at the scene. Four other Battlefield students were injured – one critically.
Police spokesman Jonathan Perok said police were called to the scene just after midnight on Wednesday and that it appears the driver – an 18-year-old male – hit a deer, lost control and hit a tree.
“It was almost unrecognizable,” Perok said of the vehicle.
Tucker died at the scene and the other four were flown out with “critical” injuries.
Perok said speed was definitely a factor but there is no indication that drugs or alcohol were involved, although he said officers will be investigating that possibility further.
None of occupants in the 2005 Dodge Magnum minivan was wearing a seatbelt and Perok said that makes it difficult to determine who was sitting where. Officers know the 18-year-old was driving but they don't know where Tucker, the 14-year-old girl, the 15-year-old girl or the 17-year-old boy were seated.
“Most of them were ejected,” he said, but at least one was trapped in the vehicle. Rescue workers took the van apart to rescue those who were still inside. Perok said he didn't yet know whether Tucker had been ejected.
As of late Wednesday morning, one of the students was still in an “extremely critical, life-threatening state,” he said. Two others were stable and one, he said, had reportedly been released.
Ken Blackstone, a spokesman for the Prince William school division, confirmed on Wednesday that all five of the students attended Battlefield.
“We obviously mourn the loss of a Battlefield High School student and our thoughts and preyers are with those who are injured,” he said.
The school is currently on spring break but Blackstone said crisis counselors would be available at the school from 12 to 2 p.m. on Thursday anyway. Any students who want to talk to a counselor can come by during those hours, he said. The counseling team will also be available throughout the day on Monday when the school reopens after break.
- Dan Roem and Michelle Baker contributed to this story.
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