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Student Athlete Dies In Crash; Four Others Injured

POSTED: 10:31 am EST February 15, 2006
UPDATED: 1:57 pm EST February 15, 2006

KENNESAW -- A Harrison High School lacrosse player has died after being involved in a car accident Monday.

Police say sophomore, Luke Abbate, has died from injuries he sustained in the crash.

Four other members of the Harrison High School lacrosse team were involved in the serious crash when the car they were in ran off the road.

Officials say they believe speed was a factor in the accident.

According to Cobb County police, a white 1994 BMW occupied by the five teens was southbound on Crew Lane moving at a high rate of speed at around 7 p.m. Monday when the car left the road.

The car was driven by junior Travis Schmidt, who was with sophomores Brandon Lane, Zach Barrett and Abbate, and freshman Mitchell Steele when the crash occurred.

Police said four of the five students were taken to Atlanta Medical Center.

Mitchell Steele is in critical condition.

Travis Schmidt and Brandon Lane are reportedly in good condition.

Zach Barrett walked away from the crash and was taken by his family to a local hospital later.

Harrison schoolmates remember wreck victim

By DON PLUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/16/06

Students at west Cobb County's Harrison High are planning to gather this morning to remember a student killed this week in a single-car crash, which also injured four of his fellow lacrosse players.

Harrison junior Luke Abbate died Tuesday at an Atlanta hospital, police and school officials said.

The other Harrison students — Zack Barrett, Mitchell Steele, Brandon Lane, Travis Schmidt — were injured in the Monday evening crash near Powder Springs, and all but Barrett remain hospitalized, family members and coaches said.

"There will be an opportunity for students to get together before school for a chance to share feelings and memories of the student," Cobb schools spokesman Jay Dillon said.

"The principal will allow students to leave items commemorating the student's life at the school flagpole."

Abbate, 15, was a passenger in the car. No charges had been filed in the accident as of Wednesday afternoon, police spokesman Dana Pierce said.

"Our traffic investigators are still working at the scene to reconstruct the crash," Pierce said.

The crash occurred at 7 p.m. Monday on Crew Lane near Trail Drive in Powder Springs.

Today's student gathering, which is not open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 7:15 a.m. in the school gym, Dillon said.

Cobb schools Superintendent Fred Sanderson called Abbate's death "a sad occasion for the Harrison community."

"There is nothing more devastating than the loss of a child," Sanderson said. "Our hearts go out to the boy's family, as well as to the families of all the students involved in the accident."

The lacrosse team narrowly missed the state playoffs in 2005. Six starters, including Schmidt, are back this season. The team had made the state semifinals in 2004.

GeorgiaLax.com wrote:The story at the bottom of this page appeared in today's Atlanta-Journal Constitution regarding Luke Abbate, a junior lacrosse player at Harrison High School. Abbate died Tuesday night from injuries sustained in a car accident that took place as he and four teammates were going home from lacrosse practice on Monday. In lieu of flowers, the Abbate family has asked that donations be made to the Luke Abbate Memorial Scholarship Fund in care of the following address:

Northwest Bank and Trust
3891 Cobb Parkway
Acworth, GA 30101

Any letters and notes sent to the bank with donations will be forwarded to the Abbate Family.

The visitation will be held Friday, February 17th from 1:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Carmichael Funeral Home on Whitlock Avenue in Marietta. The funeral will be Sunday, February 18th at 1:00 PM at the West Ridge Church on Highway 92 in Dallas, GA.

Abbate family struggles to move on after son s death

Friday, April 7, 2006 3:12 AM EDT
E-mail this story to a friend | Printable version

Luke Abbate pleaded with the driver to stop the car and let him out. The other four passengers also protested. This was not the way home.

A Harrison High School sophomore, Abbate thought he was getting a ride home when he and four other Harrison lacrosse players finished practice and got in the car with junior Travis Schmidt Feb. 13.

After stopping briefly to get some drinks at a convenience store around 7 p.m., Schmidt unexpectedly detoured onto Midway Road and accelerated his 1994 BMW 325iS to more than 70 mph, passengers told police.

Schmidt lost control of the white BMW, which careened off the road and rolled in the air, landing on the back right corner of the roof where Luke was sitting.

Four of the students, including Luke Abbate, were rushed to Atlanta Medical Center. Luke died the next day.