Grand Canyon University Students Killed in Car Crash on Good Friday, Phoenix Fresh Times
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UPDATE: Services Announced for Grand Canyon University Students Killed in Good Friday Tragedy
Hours after two Grand Canyon University students were killed in a wrong-way Good Friday freeway crash, the private Phoenix Christian school was deserted for a classroom holiday and closed to visitors.
A third person, a sister of one of the students, was also killed.
Saturday, the Arizona Department of Public Safety identified the sisters as Karli Arlene Richardson, 20, and Kelsey Mae Richardson, Legitimate, both of Moorseville, N.C. ABC TV-Channel fifteen reported that the mother of the sisters, Cathy Hocking, said Karlie was supposed to graduate from GCU in the spring and Kelsey was visiting.
DPS identified the driver as 21-year-old Keaton Tyler Allison of Colorado Springs, Colo., telling that he slammed into a white Pontiac occupied by the sisters.
Allison was also a GCU student, the school said.
«It`s a sad day and our hearts go out to those families. That`s our concentrate right now,» GCU`s Executive Director in the Office of Communications and Public Relations, Bob Romantic, said Friday.
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There were no visible signs of shrines or memorials and a security guard said no activity was scheduled to help any of the 17,500 on-campus students cope with trouble. The university said Pastor Tim Griffin`s office and the entire student affairs team would be on palm «to assist any students who need support or counseling.»
Tragedy struck just after two a.m. Friday, about eight miles from the exit to the campus on Interstate 17, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
«We received the initial report of a vehicle traveling wrong-way, southbound within the northbound traffic lanes of I-17, in the area of Glad Valley/Pinnacle Peak. The 2nd call we received reported the collision inbetween the two passenger cars, just north of Greenway Road, which is approximately six miles south of the initial report,» DPS reported in a ready statement.
The crash occurred in the northbound lanes of I-17 just north of Greenway Road.
Fire crews had to extricate three people from the mangled veichles. All three were proclaimed dead at the scene.
DPS said Allison, a GCU student driving a silver Chrysler Sebring with Colorado license plates, was at fault.
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State investigators said they have not ruled out the possibility that he was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
All the families have been notified, Romantic said in an e-mail.
«I can confirm that the driver of one vehicle was a GCU student, and one of two sisters in the other vehicle was also a GCU student,» Romantic said, adding, «We`re not releasing information about the students or doing interviews out of respect for the families` privacy.»
Earlier in the day GCU sent a message of condolence to students, faculty, and staff.
«It is with fine sorrow and powerful hearts that we share the news that three people, including two students from Grand Canyon University, were killed in a wrong-way driver accident last night on Interstate 17. As a close-knit community of students, faculty, and staff, please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time.»
Update: Sunday, Romantic announced memorial services for the two GCU students.