Old Town High recalls 2 seniors who died

OLD TOWN – Friday was a somber day at Old Town High School, as students and staff tried to comprehend the sudden death of two members of the senior class. Gabriel Wood, 18, of Alton and Stephen Edward Gomm Jr., also 18, of Milford were pronounced dead at the scene of a motor vehicle accident Thursday afternoon on Bennoch Road in Old Town. Two other classmates, Nathan Gates and Sean Kinch, both 18 and of Old Town, were badly injured and were listed in serious condition Friday evening at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

The entire senior class was called to an early assembly in the high school gym yesterday, where principal Terry Kenniston, visibly shaken, encouraged them to take care of themselves and one another.

“This is your space. Do whatever you have to do for yourself and your friends,” Kenniston told the teens. “If you feel you have to leave school, just come and talk to us first.” Otherwise, he said, students should consider taking advantage of the grief counselors, clergy and other concerned adults available to them.

Scheduled classes resumed after the assembly for students who chose to attend, but Kenniston said the class meetings would respond to the needs of students who wanted to discuss the traumatic event.

The principal said all extracurricular activities had been canceled for an indefinite period. The school will continue to offer support to students, staff and other community members as needed.

In the dark of the late afternoon, students took their grief and frustration into their own hands, gathering in Old Town’s riverside park for a candlelight vigil. Speakers set up in the back of a pickup truck played music as the teens huddled against the cold, many crying and embracing. Students’ vehicles parked in the area had memorial messages scrawled across their windows.

The accident is under investigation by the Maine State Police. A preliminary report issued by the Old Town Police Department on Friday morning said it appeared the Ford Escort driven by Nathan Gates had backed out of a driveway directly into the path of a southbound tractor-trailer. The truck was fully loaded with wood chips and headed for the Georgia-Pacific Corp. paper mill in Old Town.

The truck, driven by 46-year-old Kenneth Kealiher of Brewer, struck the car on the passenger side, demolishing it. Gomm was seated on the front passenger side, according to Sgt. Travis Roy of the Old Town Police Department. Wood was seated behind the driver.

The truck had damage to the front end, but Kealiher was uninjured, according to the police statement. The accident was reported shortly after 1 p.m.

Sgt. Michael Hashey of the Old Town Police Department said passers-by stayed at the scene until emergency crews from Old Town, Orono and Bangor arrived. The roof of the Escort was removed to get to the victims.

Hashey said it would take about a week before there is conclusive information regarding the cause of the accident. He said there is no initial evidence that the chip truck was traveling over the 45 mph speed limit along Bennoch Road. Routine toxicology testing on Kealiher was negative; results for Gates are not yet available. Although school had been canceled that day because of a projected snowstorm, the roads that afternoon were only slightly wet and visibility was good. Hashey said there was no significant history of accidents along the rural, two-lane road, despite its frequent use as a truck route.

Both boys, said Kenniston, were well-liked by their peers and by the school staff. ?Anytime a group of kids loses a classmate, it?s just so tough. It shows them that they?re not invincible,? he said.