15-year-old dies after being hit by a car near at Huntsville's Columbia High School

HUNTSVILLE, Al.
Students and faculty at Huntsville's Columbia High School are mourning the death of a 15-year-old Columbia student Hunter Cantrell, who died after being hit by a car while riding his bike home from school Thursday.

The incident happened at about 3 p.m. on Farrow Road near the entrance to the high school in Cummings Research Park. A witness told police that the student, whose name has not been released, was riding his bike down the hill westbound and collided with a blue 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe that was eastbound, police said.

He was pronounced dead at Huntsville Hospital.

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski said this morning that extra counselors will be on hand at the school today and in days to come as students and faculty deal with the loss of Cantrell, a 10th grader who lived about a mile away and often rode his bicycle to and from school.

Hunter Cantrell

 School officials and students lowered the flag to half-staff this morning, and classmates put up a Facebook page urging students to wear black today in his honor.

"Everybody is pretty much grief-stricken," Wardynski said.

He said school administrators and police officers assigned to the school will review safety procedures for bicycle riders and students that walk to the school. Police officers at the school and emergency personnel arrived within minutes of the accident, but Cantrell's injuries were too serious for him to be saved, Wardynski said.

"They did everything they could at the scene," he said.

Wardynski, who met with the deceased student's parents Thursday night, said the school will try to have as normal a day as possible under the circumstances.

"We're keeping the family in our prayers," Wardynski said.