Woodbury police have identified the teenagers involved in a fatal car crash Saturday evening on Settlers Ridge Parkway.
Authorities ID teens in fatal Woodbury crash
Survivors are in stable but serious condition.
March 15, 2021 at 5:34PM
Killed in the crash was Garrett Bumgarner, 17, who was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, according to a news release from police Cmdr. John Altman.
Surviving passengers include Connor Bro, Jack Mears and Andrew McKevitt. The name of the driver has yet to be released, but registration data show the car is registered to the parents of a classmate.
The survivors are in stable but serious condition, Altman said. They all received care at Regions Hospital for "myriad" injuries, he added. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office will provide further details about the fatality, he said.
"There are many people that have a lot of emotion to process: moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, extended families, friends, classmates, neighbors, responders — the entire Woodbury community, really," Altman said. "A thorough investigation into a crash such as this takes time."
Residents of Settlers Ridge reported the crash shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday. A 2015 Honda Accord was split in half after the vehicle crashed into a tree along the roadway. Bumgarner was ejected upon impact; the other four had to be extricated from the car.
The Minnesota State Patrol is reconstructing the crash.
Asked whether the car was split in half from the collision or extrication, Altman said in an e-mail that "it is hard to fathom, but the condition of the car is not the result of extrication — the damage is the result of the crash."
On Sunday, mourners gathered at a growing memorial site where dozen of flowers, cards and candles were left at the base of the tree, wrapped in white ribbon.
Friend and East Ridge senior Logan Ellis said everyone called Bumgarner "Gary," and described him as a genuine friend with a positive attitude.
"He kind of took me in and he never judged me and we got really close," he said at the memorial Sunday. "It doesn't feel right that he's gone."
Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
