A regional high school senior was killed early Friday morning in a single-car car crash in Chilmark.
Jake S. Baird, 17, of Oak Bluffs, died from injuries sustained when the Chevrolet Blazer he was driving crashed on Middle Road near Tea Lane, according to Chilmark police.
Police chief Jonathan Klaren said in a press release that two passengers were treated at Martha's Vineyard Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He said the passengers were both teenagers, a 19-year-old male and 16-year-old female. The names were not released.
Chief Klaren said police and emergency personnel were called to the crash at 7:56 a.m. Friday. The car, a 1994 Chevrolet Blazer, was found in the brush along Middle Road, just east of Tea Lane. The vehicle was found about 30 feet off the road, Chief Klaren told the Gazette, and had been traveling east toward West Tisbury.
According to Massachusetts State Police, the vehicle came to a curve and traveled to the left side of the roadway, back to the right side, and then left the roadway, striking a tree and coming to rest down an embankment.
Mr. Baird was pronounced dead despite efforts by police, fire, and EMS personnel, according to Chief Klaren.
The accident is under investigation by the state police, whose Crime Scene Services Section and Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section assisted at the scene. Chief Klaren said state police accident reconstruction was on site Friday afternoon. One lane of Middle Road was open to traffic.
State police spokesman Dave Procopio said Tuesday that the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
The Chilmark fire department also responded to the scene, along with Aquinnah, West Tisbury, and Tisbury police, Aquinnah and West Tisbury fire departments, Tri-Town EMS and Tisbury EMS, and state police.
There was no school Friday for Martha’s Vineyard public schools for teacher professional development.
A team of trained counselors was available at the regional high school to help students, parents and school personnel, Vineyard schools superintendent Matthew D’Andrea said. Teachers and parents gathered at the high school library from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, and counselors were also available later in the day and throughout the weekend.
Alex's Place, the teen center at the YMCA, was open Saturday and noon Sunday for students needing a safe space to be together, according to a post on Facebook.
“Our condolences and thoughts go out to the family and friends of Jake,” Mr. D’Andrea said in the press release. “This is a difficult time for everyone, but I know our students and staff will be able to lean on each other as they remember their classmate.”
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