The Higdon community in Jackson County, Ala., is reeling this week after a 14-year-old student at North Sand Mountain School was struck and killed Tuesday by a vehicle driven by another teen.
The boy, whose name officials have not released, was on foot when he was hit by a car driven by a 16-year-old classmate as students were heading home from school Tuesday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The school's principal, Dustin Roden, said counselors, administrative staff, teachers and students talked with and comforted each other Wednesday as the community came to grips with the tragedy.
"We're talking to them and letting them talk among themselves," Roden said Wednesday. "It's a sad time."
The victim was "smart, intelligent. In the past year, we had a great relationship," Roden said. "He would come talk to me and I'd go talk to him. He was great."
Roden said he also spoke with the driver of the car involved, a teen girl who also attends the school. He said she was taking the incident hard. No charges have been filed, authorities said.
Trooper Curtis Summerville, spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's Highway Patrol Office, said the car involved was a 2015 Chrysler. Summerville said the investigation into the accident is continuing.
Jackson County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said the boy was walking along Alabama Highway 71 around 2:35 p.m. CST to a nearby store after dismissal at North Sand Mountain School.
The school in the Higdon community is about 20 miles southwest of Chattanooga. North Sand Mountain School serves kindergarten through 12th-grade students. Higdon has a population of about 1,400.
Harnen said he understood the boy walked every day after classes were dismissed to the Shell Mart store just 300 yards or so south of the school.
"I imagine a lot of kids go to that store," Harnen said. "There's only a couple of places around for them to gather."
There are no sidewalks along Highway 71, and Harnen said the state highway is "fairly well-traveled." Pedestrians generally walk along the roadside or on the edges of lots and yards, he said.
Harnen said a Jackson County Sheriff's Office deputy was at the Shell Mart shortly before the accident and had just moved to the school to direct traffic. The deputy didn't witness the incident, Harnen said.
A crowd of students, teachers and members of the community were at the scene as emergency personnel arrived, the chief deputy said.
Members of the community "have been very supportive; the teachers, staff, custodians - everybody is coming together," Roden said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.