Two vehicles collided head-on and burst into flames on a two-lane highway in rural eastern Kansas, killing eight people, including two high school students, a former teacher-coach and a school employee from Oklahoma, authorities said Monday.
The crash occurred at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday on U.S. 169 outside of the small town of Greeley, about 60 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. One person escaped from a wrecked vehicle and was hospitalized.
Three of those killed were connected with Tulsa Public Schools, the school district confirmed Monday. Booker T. Washington High School student Donald “DJ” Laster died in the crash, along with former Carver Middle School coach and teacher Wayne Walls and Ja’mon Gilstrap, a member of Tulsa Public Schools’ transportation team.
Laster, Gilstrap and Walls were part of a competitive travel basketball team called the Oklahoma Chaos, KSHB reported.
Kyrin Schumpert, a 9th grade student from Union High School Freshman Academy in Tulsa, also died in the crash, according to a Union Public Schools spokesperson.
“I am heartbroken for those who lost loved ones, and committed to honoring the immense collective impact each of these people had in Tulsa and in the lives of our young people,” Dr. Ebony Johnson, superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, said in a statement obtained by CBS affiliate KOTV. “I am praying for their families and everyone involved, and hope others will continue to come alongside our students, team members, and families who are hurting.”
Ron Horton, a teacher at Booker T. Washington, said in a video sent by Tulsa Public Schools that he has seen a lot of kids come and go in his 17 years of teaching and that DJ Laster was “something special.” He said Laster was a quintessential student-athlete who worked as hard at academics as he did at sport during the busy varsity basketball season.
“He stood out for his friendliness and just the way he made kids feel at ease. They just felt so comfortable around DJ. He was always smiling,” Horton said. “No one had a beef with that guy. He was just a good guy.”
Horton said Laster was one of only two freshmen to make the varsity basketball team and that Laster worked hard to keep up.
“It’s just a shock, it is, that he’s gone,” Horton said.
Union Public Schools Superintendent John Federline said in a statement that the district has activated a crisis response team and is offering counselors, school psychologists, and support staff for anyone who may need the support.
The crash closed a section of the highway for four hours, and Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Jodi Clary said authorities were still working at the crash site Monday evening. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
“Both cars burned up,” Clary said.
The crash happened just days after a pickup truck and tour van collision in Idaho near Yellowstone National Park killed seven people and injured eight others.