A high school teacher in the US state of Georgia was accidentally run over and killed outside his home after his students’ toilet paper-throwing prank turned tragic, authorities said.
Jason Hughes, 40, came out of his house to surprise pupils who were throwing rolls of toilet paper at trees as part of a practical joke.
However, Hughes slipped and fell on the wet ground after the rain, and as the students tried to flee the scene in two separate cars, one of the drivers inadvertently ran him over, police said.
The student driving the car has been charged with vehicular homicide, but the teacher’s family is asking for the charges to be dismissed.
In a statement to the New York Times, Jason Hughes’ wife, Laura Hughes, who is also a teacher at the same high school, said her husband was well-liked by the students.
She said he knew about the prank and “was excited and waiting to catch them in the act.”
The driver, identified as Jayden Ryan Wallace, 18, along with two other students, stopped to try to help Hughes before emergency services arrived at the scene and transported him to the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
Wallace and four other 18-year-olds who participated in the prank were also charged with trespassing on private property and littering.
Hughes’ wife told The New York Times that the family fully “supports the dismissal of the charges against everyone involved.”
“This is a terrible tragedy, and our family wants to prevent another tragedy from happening that would destroy the lives of these students,” she said. “It would be contrary to Jason’s mission in life to invest in the lives of these children.”
The BBC has contacted the sheriff’s office for comment.
A spokesman for the Hall County School District told local media outlet WXIA that Hughes will be remembered as a “passionate teacher, mentor and coach who was loved and respected by students and colleagues.”
Meanwhile, citizens have erected a memorial in front of the school where Hughes taught and coached.
(Vijesti.ba)
