Tributes have poured in for a high school football star who was killed in a horror car accident that injured five other teenagers.
Nolan Barr, 17, was remembered as a charismatic and popular teen by friends and family following his tragic death in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
He was riding in the passenger seat of a car filed with seven teenagers aged between 15 and 17 when the driver, who has not been identified, crashed into a tree in Mashpee, Massachusetts.
It is unclear what caused the wreck, with two other occupants rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries and Barr was pronounced dead hours later.
Nolan Barr, 17, was tragically killed in the early hours of Tuesday morning in a horror car crash that injured five other teenagers
Cops said seven teenagers aged between 15 and 17 were in the vehicle when the driver ‘lost control’ and crashed into a tree. The direct cause of the accident is under investigation
Mashpee Police Chief Scott W. Carline said after the crash that it appeared the driver of the vehicle ‘lost control’ before they struck a tree, and investigations are ongoing.
Footage showed the entire front side of the group’s SUV crumbled on a sidewalk after the wreckage.
Paramedics raced several occupants to the South Shore Trauma Center, with just one person involved unhurt and reportedly picked up from the scene by their parents.
The DA’s office has reportedly declined to say if it may bring charges over the crash, however residents on the street speculated that speeding may have been a factor.
Carlton Drive, where the wreck unfolded, is known for motorists speeding through it as it is a cut through for a local highway.
The owner of the home where the crash occurred, Charlie Dedecko, said he was woken in the night by ‘this awful bang’, and ‘somehow I knew a car hit a tree out in front of my house.’
Dedecko added that his own 19-year-old son was killed in a similar crash almost 50 years ago, as he told Boston25News that ‘I kind of know how the parents are feeling. It’s an awful, awful thing.’
Tributes have poured in for Barr following his death, who was remembered as a charismatic and popular young athlete
Barr’s friends and family were seen weeping at a memorial for him at the crash site
As news of Barr’s death emerged, friends, family and locals from the community paid tribute to the talented teen, with many seen weeping at a memorial for him at the crash scene.
‘He was funny, he was a jokester — always happy, always smiling,’ friend Aidan Chisholm said. ‘He was a member of the football team. He was great.’
Francis Delgado said she knew Barr from a local assisted living facility where he worked, and worried how the elderly residents would react to the news of his death as many considered him a grandson.
‘We all loved him,’ she said. ‘Nicest kid you ever want to meet.’
Barr’s heartbroken girlfriend took to Instagram to share her grief, where she said she would ‘cherish the years she spent with you… for the rest of my life.’
‘You were not only my boyfriend, but my best friend that I knew I could go to for anything,’ she wrote.
‘You will always be my boy even if you aren’t here with me, I know you will be looking over me and keeping me safe from heaven. I love you forever angel. I will be looking for you in every lifetime. I’m sorry we didn’t have longer in this one.’
Friend Talia Dimaggio described him as a ‘really, really funny person’ who ‘was always someone you could count on.’
Several occupants in the vehicle attend Mashpee Middle-High School, and the school set up counselors to help students grieve the horror crash.
Barr’s heartbroken girlfriend she would ‘cherish the years she spent with you… for the rest of my life’, adding: ‘I will be looking for you in every lifetime. I’m sorry we didn’t have longer in this one’
The DA’s office has declined to say if it may bring charges over the crash, however residents on the street speculated that speeding may have been a factor
‘I know you join us in keeping all those involved and our Mashpee community in your thoughts and prayers,’ Hope Hanscom, assistant school superintendent, said in a message to families.
A member of the high school’s football team, Barr’s football coach Matthew Triveri said he ‘made people at ease when he smiled.’
‘His family has been a staple of this community for years now and they’re great people and it’s just a huge loss for all of us,’ he told the Boston Globe.
