Ottawa Hills High School Students are mourning the loss of a classmate killed in a crash early Saturday morning.
Students were supposed to be attending a turnabout dance at school Saturday night, but the dance is postponed. Instead, students honored 18-year-old Brian Hoeflinger at a vigil.
State Troopers say Hoeflinger was headed southbound on Edgehill just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning, when he drove off the right side of the road hitting a tree.The car caught fire and Hoeflinger died at the hospital.
The teen was a student at St. John's Jesuit for three years before transferring to Ottawa Hills for his senior year.
His death hit friend and fellow senior Jack Tansey hard. "I was just talking to him yesterday at the basketball game and it's starting to kind of hit me. Like, four hours later he's dead. And it's kind of weird to say the last time I saw him was last night. He was just having a good time, smiling, making everyone laugh and happy like he usually does."
Hundreds gathered Saturday night to remember Brian. Teachers and students from both Ottawa Hills High and St. John's Jesuit mourned together.
"You can't really even believe it happened," said classmate A.J. King. "I was just with him yesterday and today he's gone forever."
Friends described Brian as spirited and incredibly smart.
Michael Geiger, a fellow Ottawa Hills senior said, "I'll be different because of Brian. Not because of his tragic accident, but because of the influence he had on me."
Flowers that were ordered for the dance were instead handed out to mourners to place at the crash site.
Students and teachers came together to support Brian's family at the vigil.
Ottawa Hills Superintendent Kevin Miller said, "We're a small school district and very much a family environment. So we celebrate our children together and mourn the loss of a child together."
Miller says the district is prepared to help students with counselors and ministers from a variety of faiths when classes resume on Monday.
Troopers say Hoeflinger was wearing a seatbelt and that it's believed alcohol was a factor in the crash. The accident remains under investigation.
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