Two College Marching Band Members Die in Car Accident
On behalf of Brown & Crouppen, P.C. posted in Motor Vehicle Accident on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A car carrying three students at the University of Missouri slid off the road and collided with a tree in Oklahoma on June 26. Sadly, the car accident fatally injured two of the students, with the other student suffering less serious injuries. All three men were members of the Marching Mizzou band at the university.
The three had gone to Texas to watch a friend’s graduation from military basic training. They were driving back to Columbia, Missouri, on U.S. Highway 69 near Muskogee, Oklahoma around 8:05 p.m., when the driver, 19, somehow lost control of the car. The car spun past the right shoulder and off the road. It collided with a tree on the driver’s side door.
Police said that the driver died on impact. The more seriously injured passenger, 20, was taken to a hospital in Tulsa in critical condition. He passed away the afternoon of June 27. The other passenger was taken to another hospital for treatment. He was released on June 27, hospital officials said.
Besides playing in the Marching Mizzou, the fatally injured students were also members of the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. A friend described the two men as passionate about music and the fraternity. They had known the man who graduated basic training through the organization. Another friend said it was not unusual for the two to do whatever it took to support their fraternity brothers.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in a press release that it was investigating what caused the accident.
Source: Columbia Missourian, “Car accident kills two Marching Mizzou members; third released from hospital,” Bridget Murphy, Katie Wall, June 27, 2011