About 3,000 people gathered for a vigil Sunday night to remember the four Mainland Regional High school football players who were killed in a crash on the Garden State Park Parkway.
Members of Mustangs football team carried the jerseys of the boys killed in the crash to the field for a moment of silence. Students left flowers, cards and helped to console one another.
"I just burst into tears. It was hard for me to watch the news when it was on, it was just heartbreaking," Jared Bradley, a student, said.
Police say the driver, carrying seven other passengers from the team, apparently lost control of the SUV and crashed into the roadway median Saturday morning. The vehicle overturned on the southbound Parkway near the exit 38A ramp. The students were on their way back from football practice, according to authorities.
Police said the driver, 17-year-old Casey Brenner of Northfield, died in the impact. Edgar Bozzi, 16, of Somers Point, and Dean Khourty, 15, of Linwood, were both killed after they were thrown from the vehicle. Nicholas Conner, 16, of Northfield, also lost his life in the crash.
The remaining four passengers were taken to local area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Jacob Smith, 17, of Linwood, Kyle Beattie, 16, of Northfield, Alex Denafo, 16 of Northfield, and Kenneth Randall, 15, of Linwood, were all inside the SUV but survived the crash.
A Facebook tribute page, "R.I.P. Mainland HS Boys. Gone but never forgotten", had more than 28,000 friends by Sunday evening.
"I didn't even know these boys and I practically cried. The boys went too soon and had their whole lives ahead of them with bright futures," Caitlin Garth wrote.
Grief counselors were on hand and the vigil and will be available to students at the school on Monday.
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