Community Corner
Boy, 14, Dies After Accident on Roof of Fox Mill Elementary School
Teen electrocuted when he fell on live wire. Witness: 'We couldn't help him. We couldn't get him down.'
A 14-year-old boy was killed after coming into contact with an electrical wire on the roof of Fox Mill Elementary School in Herndon late Tuesday night, Fairfax Count Fire and Rescue Officials said.
The boy, identified as Bennett Rill, died at the scene. Two other teens were injured when they tried to help him.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue were called to Fox Mill Elementary in Herndon Tuesday evening when several juveniles were injured in a fall from the roof of the school.
County Fire and Rescue posted the emergency call to its Twitter feed, saying a "young male hanging from conduit approx 8 - 10 ft off the ground. "
Police ID Teen Killed on Elementary School Roof
Police spokesman Don Gotthardt says it is not known why the boys were on the roof of the school, but there is no evidence they were trying to break in to the school.
Neighbor Donna Hale, who lives on Horton Hill about a block from the school, said she was walking the dog with a friend when a boy ran by screaming.
"He told us 'my friend is hurt,' " she said. "He took us by the trailer. The boy was hanging in the wires."
Hale said one of the boys told her they were up on the roof - something they do all the time, he said. The boy who died apparently stepped on a wire, the other boy told Hale.
Most of the wires around the school are underground, but there are some wires overhead that go to temporary classroom buildings, Hale said.
One of the boys - whose arm was burned, Hale said - ran into the school where a janitor was located. The janitor cut the power to the building.
Hale said she stayed on the scene until the police got there.
"It seemed like forever," she said. "The boy was just hanging there. We felt so helpless. We couldn't help him. We couldn't get him down."
School board member Janie Strauss (Dranesville) told the Washington Post the teens were "kids playing in a place that’s not safe to play ... It was a very sad, tragic accident. Our heart aches for those parents and that family.”
Police ID Teen Killed on Elementary School Roof
Police spokesman Don Gotthardt says it is not known why the boys were on the roof of the school, but there is no evidence they were trying to break in to the school.
Neighbor Donna Hale, who lives on Horton Hill about a block from the school, said she was walking the dog with a friend when a boy ran by screaming.
"He told us 'my friend is hurt,' " she said. "He took us by the trailer. The boy was hanging in the wires."
Hale said one of the boys told her they were up on the roof - something they do all the time, he said. The boy who died apparently stepped on a wire, the other boy told Hale.
Most of the wires around the school are underground, but there are some wires overhead that go to temporary classroom buildings, Hale said.
One of the boys - whose arm was burned, Hale said - ran into the school where a janitor was located. The janitor cut the power to the building.
Hale said she stayed on the scene until the police got there.
"It seemed like forever," she said. "The boy was just hanging there. We felt so helpless. We couldn't help him. We couldn't get him down."
School board member Janie Strauss (Dranesville) told the Washington Post the teens were "kids playing in a place that’s not safe to play ... It was a very sad, tragic accident. Our heart aches for those parents and that family.”
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