Shawnee High mourns student killed in crash

At the high school where Ryan J. Fitzpatrick had sat in classrooms with friends he had known his entire life, counselors and priests yesterday comforted students grieving for his death.

Before a lacrosse game on the Shawnee High School field where the 18-year-old had played for the varsity football team, fellow athletes took a moment to pray.

And on the bleachers overlooking a game where some of Fitzpatrick's friends had resolved to continue with their game in the face of tragedy, Andre LaPierre, whose son Chris had been friends with Fitzpatrick for more than a decade, summed up the shock that many in the Medford community shared:

"You just feel empty. You don't believe it."

Only a few miles away Sunday evening, Fitzpatrick was rounding a curve in a 1999 Ford Expedition when the vehicle hit a concrete curb on the island dividing the road, then slammed into a tree.

The Expedition overturned, and police found him moments later lying unconscious outside it.

Fitzpatrick died of head and chest trauma en route to Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly.

He had just dropped off a friend in town and was heading home, said Wagner, who added that he had not been wearing a seat belt. His injuries might have been less serious had he been strapped in, as his ejection from the vehicle largely caused the massive trauma, according to the lieutenant.

"He was going too fast for the conditions of the area," Wagner added.

The scene of the accident, on Highbridge Boulevard past Abingdon Avenue, was less than a mile from Fitzpatrick's home on Bookbinder Court.

"Any time you lose a student it's tragic, and at this time we're trying to support our students and our staff [work] through this difficult time period," principal Matthew Campbell said.

Counselors from other schools in the Lenape Regional High School District came to offer support for students yesterday and could stay for several more days this week, he added.

Fitzpatrick and several hundred of his classmates had been planning for the school prom on Friday.

Fitzpatrick was a starting defensive lineman for Shawnee's football team this past season, when the team finished 12-0 and was ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer.

"He was a very enthusiastic young man who had a way of putting a positive spin on everything," Shawnee football coach Tim Gushue said.

Gushue said Fitzpatrick had the gift to make others laugh.

"There would be times I'd be angry and have veins popping out of my neck, and he would get you laughing," Gushue said. "He was just fun to be around, and all the coaches and players loved him."

He planned to attend Delaware Valley College.

Several parents gathered at the school's athletic fields yesterday afternoon were in too much grief to comment, but others spoke warmly of the senior being mourned.

Fitzpatrick always had something funny to say, and made everybody around him feel better, putting a positive spin even on a lost game, LaPierre recalled.

"He was a hard worker, and he always got the most out of his talent," said the parent.

Jack McElvarr said his 17-year-old son, John, became close with Fitzpatrick this school year.

"He was a lot of fun, always laughing. . . . He just loved being with his friends," McElvarr said.