Students at Shakopee High School grieved Friday after a classmate was killed and two others were critically injured after a vehicle carrying five young people overturned Thursday afternoon west of the southwest metro city.
Ja'Mason Moffett, 16, a Shakopee High School junior, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Moffett's sudden death sent shock waves through a school community in the early days of its new school year. Shakopee High students struck up several tributes throughout the day Friday, a teen who students and staff remember as well-known and well-liked.
"You can see the hurt and the pain on a lot of student faces and staff this morning," said school Principal Jeff Pawlicki Friday. He called Moffett spirited.
The Scott County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred shortly after 3 p.m. when the 2014 Jeep Cherokee heading south along Zumbro Avenue in Jackson Township when left the road, hit a driveway and overturned. Two of the other passengers were being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the sheriff's release on Friday. Sheikhnur Jimale, 17, of Shakopee, was in critical condition, and Hannah Chance, 17, of Shakopee, was listed as stable, the Sheriff's Office said. The driver, whose name had not yet been released due to the investigation, was released from St. Francis Regional Medical Center, along with passenger Khalil Watson, 20, of Burnsville.
Pawlicki confirmed that one of the car's occupants is also a Shakopee High School student.
It's too early to tell whether alcohol or drugs were involved, said Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen. The Sheriff's Office, Hennepin County medical examiner's office and Minnesota State Patrol were investigating.
"It's always a tragedy when someone is injured or killed in an accident," Hennen said in a release. "But the pain is particularly acute when we lose one of our young people, taking with them the loss of their future and their potential, and leaving only grief for those left behind."
Aftershocks and tributes
After she heard about the accident, Shakopee High School senior Sydney Oxendale was on the phone with a friend. This was before she knew Moffett had died at the scene, before she knew the kid who everyone loved wouldn't be at school the next day.