Woodbury Public Safety reported a deadly car crash at 1:30am on Sunday, March 14th via a Facebook post. The message communicated that a collision had happened around 11:08pm on March 13th near Settler’s Ridge Pkwy and Sundance Way. Responders appeared at that location at 11:11pm, only minutes after nearby residents dialed 911. Responders discovered a 2015 Honda Accord that had been bisected from colliding with a tree. Five male victims were encountered, as well. One of them had been thrown from the vehicle and was declared “deceased’’ at the scene. The four other boys were inside of the car.

On Monday, March 15th, at 10:52am, Woodbury Public Safety uploaded an updated report. The Journal now knows that all five passengers involved in the fatal crash were 17-year-old boys. Garrett Bumgarner was the one who responders found outside of the car and dead. The other four boys were seriously injured. Connor Bro, Jack Mears, and Andrew McKevitt were cared for by Woodbury EMS and Cottage Grove EMS prior to being rushed to Regions hospital. The fifth victim was also aided by EMS. He was delivered to Woodwinds hospital. By the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Woodbury Public Safety has refrained from announcing the driver’s identity. The cause of the crash and the cause of Bumgarner’s death are still being investigated.

Although a few aspects of the incident remain unknown, East Ridge High School was able to confirm that the five passengers involved were a part of their student body. As a result, teenagers in the Cottage Grove and Woodbury region have been impacted. The Journal interacted with some of them to understand how local high schoolers are dealing with and acknowledging the damage done to their classmates on March 13th.

A junior at ERHS by the name of Riya Bharti stated that she was working when she was notified of a deadly car crash nearby. She and a co-worker were terror-stricken. Bharti recalled, “A co-worker of mine was hit hard as she knew some of those affected and was terrified at the fact that people our age could pass away in an instant. The idea of death hit us and the fact it was so close to home hit us harder.”

Then, Bharti defined the fears that have surfaced inside of her since the incident, “It’s scary. You don’t expect it can happen and live in this sort of perfect world bubble and like that the bubble bursts so it’s overwhelming and terrifying to think about.”

It is likely that emotions relating to Bharti’s were being endured throughout Woodbury and Cottage Grove. Since March 14th, a couple of movements have been launched to express love for Bro, Mears, McKevitt, and Bumgarner. Olivia Voerster is a twelfth grader at ERHS. She made The Journal aware that local residents were displaying hockey sticks on their porches “in honor of Garrett”. Alongside this act, many laid flowers by the fractured tree on Settler’s Ridge Pkwy and Sundance Way.

High schoolers at East Ridge dealt with the loss of one classmate and the harm to four by attending counseling. As Advisor of the ERHS Student Council, Alexandria Herrera compiled a Google Doc entitled, “3/15-19 Support Services”. The document listed times in which ERHS staff and district employees were available to console their students. Struggling teenagers took advantage of virtual, in-building, and outdoor counseling sessions on the weekdays following the incident.

Bharti would likely agree that ERHS benefited from leaning on each other in this way. She stated, “Many in our community [who] knew or know those involved in the crash and are slowly processing the events and are talking through it with me or other people they know.”

Those touched by Woodbury’s fatal car accident of March 13th have been investing into three GoFundMe pages that have been published since. One of the fundraisers is entitled, “Paying Tribute to Garrett Bumgarner”. According to the organizer, they desire to “help the hardship that the Bumgarner’s have endured” through this GoFundMe platform. The funds accumulated will be brought directly to Bumgarner’s parents to cover funeral expenses and issue financial backing.

A second charity was pieced together by a woman claiming to be the aunt of Jack Mears, one of the injured students. She defines the purpose of Mears’ GoFundMe platform in its description, Accident

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“We are raising money to help pay for his in-home care, physical therapy and medical bills that will incur over the course of his recovery.”

One last GoFundMe page was founded by a junior at ERHS. Through the “StoneMill Crash Medical& Funeral Donations’’ page, the student intends to aid each victim’s family. It writes in his GoFundMe page’s details, “This fundraiser is to help the innocent families with expenses to cover the costs of medical and funeral bills…All funds will be split between each of the families.”

All three of the initiatives mentioned above were launched on Monday, March 15. By the next Tuesday night, above $100,000 had been accrued for the victims and their families. If readers find themselves itching to give, The Journal has linked each GoFundMe site below.

“Jack Mears Support” https://www.gofundme.com/f/jack-mears-support?qid=bf261d6cede23218338c3839b0a4e78f “Paying Tribute to Garrett Bumgarner” https://www.gofundme.com/f/garrett-bumgarner-memorial- fund?qid=9bdfc617dcc25561f36e8e3c27e06650 “StoneMill Crash Medical& Funeral Donations” https://www.gofundme.com/f/stonemill-crash-medicalfuneral- donations?qid=708137796c8c9b1473363f7a3502cda0 Numerous community members brought awareness to Woodbury’s fatal car crash of March 13th. On Monday, March 15th, South Washington County Schools’ students were highlighting the three GoFundMe pages on their social media platforms. In addition, they uploaded photos of the memorial located at Settler’s Ridge Pkwy and Sundance Way. Lastly, students used phrases such as, “Even if you can’t donate, share this on your story…” and, “My prayers go up to all the families and close friends of Garrett and the 4 other kids who were in the car” to spread awareness.

One final response to the incident worth mentioning was how a Cottage Grove teen channeled her devastation into an effort for unity.

Olivia Voerster is a twelfth grader at ERHS. Although Voerster was nothing more than a classmate to the five victims of the crash, she was deeply troubled by the tragedy. “So when I first heard [of the deadly car crash], it made me like, sad and angry…I was sad obviously that it had happened and I was angry that…such a young kid had lost their life…” Voerster recalled.

Her grief transformed into a motivation to express compassion to those who surrounded her. “…I just like, started thinking of what I could do to…try and bring hope to like other people…and help out the community,” Voerster described.

After gathering inspiration from her sister and encouragement from her mother, Voerster landed on crafting and distributing ribbons for East Ridge High School. She invited her friends to join her in reaching her goal to produce 2,000 ribbons. When The Journal spoke to Voerster on Tuesday, March 16, she and her team were approaching a total of 1,000 ribbons.

Each ribbon was gold and black to model ERHS’s school colors. In addition, a pin was attached to each ribbon. That way, recipients could pin them almost anywhere. Voerster began distributing the ribbons when high school classes in ERHS resumed on Thursday, March 18th. As she passed them out, she accepted cash donations for the families of the victims.

According to Voerster, the ribbons represent unity. She told the Journal, “They just symbolize…the community coming together and showing support for…all of the families whose sons went through that horrible accident.”

The community has been deeply wounded by March 13th’s horrid car crash in Woodbury. Still, they are coming together through movements, generosity, and social media to remember Garrett Bumgarner and to honor Connor Bro, Jack Mears, and Andrew McKevitt.

One local concluded it best, “I do have a lot of hope. The community has come together in some really good ways, which is super amazing…good things have come out of it…. even though it was such a horrible thing…a lot of big groups of people have come together to like, help make ribbons and like, and donate to GoFundMe’s, tons of money have been donated…I think that’s really cool.”