1 dead, 4 injured after car strikes tree in Woodbury

KSTP

[anvplayer video=”5013722″ station=”998122″]

A teen is dead and four other teens were taken to the hospital after a car hit a tree Saturday night in Woodbury.

According to Woodbury Public Safety, emergency personnel responded to 911 reports of a single-vehicle crash with several occupants around 11 p.m. on Settler’s Ridge Parkway near Sundance Lane.

When responders arrived on scene, they began treating the five people who were inside a severely damaged 2015 Honda Accord. One of the victims was ejected from the vehicle and has been pronounced dead.

Woodbury Public Safety said the car had struck a tree and "split in half." Police say everyone in the car was either 16 or 17.

School officials from East Ridge High School sent an email to families confirming the teen who died was a student at the school.

A mangled Honda Accord is seen at the site of a fatal one-vehicle crash Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Woodbury.[KSTP]

"This is a devastating loss for our school and our hearts go out to the student’s family and all those involved in this tragic accident," the email reads.

The letter also let families know that its mental health team is ready to meet with students who would like to talk about the crash.

A growing memorial of flowers and letters now sits where the car crashed.

"The guy was just a beam of sunshine," Logan Ellis said about the friend he lost in the crash.

"He’d do anything for you. If you were going through some hard times, you know, he was the guy to help you. And, I just couldn’t believe [it] when I heard the news," Ellis added. "I’ll never forget him."

Woodbury Public Safety had an update Sunday afternoon:

"We don’t have new information to share. What we do know is that there are many people that have a lot of emotion to process: moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, extended families, friends, classmates, neighbors, responders – the entire Woodbury community, really."

Crash investigators still have questions for the teens who survived the crash before they release the cause of the crash.