Three Green Run High seniors killed in Virginia Beach crash

VIRGINIA BEACH

Three Green Run High School seniors were killed Friday afternoon when the car they were in crossed the center line on a rural stretch of Salem Road and was hit by a van.

The three had left the nearby Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center, where they took classes, six minutes earlier.

It was raining, and 18-year-old Matthew Kirkbride was apparently speeding around a slick curve in the 2700 block of Salem Road when he lost control of his Volkswagen, police said.

The driver of the van couldn't avoid the car, slamming into the passenger side and pushing it into a ditch.

The impact killed Kirkbride and two 17-year-old passengers: Joseph Jenkins, who was in the front seat, and Adam Ross Sherman, who was sitting in the back. All the teens were wearing their seat belts, police said.

The driver of the van walked away from the crash bloodied and was hospitalized with broken bones. Authorities did not release his name.

"It sounded like a huge explosion," said Dennis Chandler, who rushed out of his home and saw the mangled vehicles.

Chandler said the driver had gotten out of the van. He was bleeding from the head and appeared to have injured his leg.

Chandler said the man told him that there were two cars traveling in his direction at the time and he couldn't avoid both.

"They were flying around the curve like they were racing," Chandler said he was told. "He said he missed the first car."

Police spokesman Adam Bernstein said crash investigators were trying to determine whether the sedan was racing or attempting to pass another car. He said it didn't appear that the van driver was at fault.

The accident occurred at 1:56 p.m. in light rain less than two miles from the North Landing Road school.

Police closed Salem Road for more than three hours while they investigated the crash. They had to cut off the car's roof to extract the teens, who were pronounced dead at the scene.

"Kids from the school always come flying around the curve here," Chandler said. "I'm really sorry someone died."

According to city records, there have been eight reported crashes within a mile of the fatal scene since the beginning of 2007. The speed limit on the two-lane stretch of Salem Road is 35 mph.

Kevin Pace, an electronics instructor at the technology center, said the school's director, David C. Swanger, often warns students over the school's public address system to drive carefully.

"He's always been very proactive about letting the kids know to drive safely," Pace said.

Eileen Cox, a Beach public schools spokeswoman, said principals from both schools the students attended would phone or e-mail messages to parents Friday night alerting them to the accident.

She said there will be extra counselors at Green Run and the technical center Monday.

"As you can imagine, it's very upsetting to everyone at the school," Cox said. "Our thoughts are with their families, the teachers and their classmates."

Kirkbride's grandmother, Linda Kirkbride, reached Friday evening, said he had just turned 18 and this was his first year driving back and forth to school.

"It was just the rain. H e lost control," Linda Kirkbride said. "Please, all these young boys out there driving, please be careful."

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com

John Warren, (757) 222-51114, john.warren@pilotonline.com