Student Fatally Injured Moving a Soccer Goal

By a Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 1, 2002; Page B05

A 17-year-old student at a Charles County high school was killed in his physical education class yesterday when a soccer goal he was helping to move fell on his head, the county sheriff's office said.

The death of Keith Franklin, a freshman at Westlake High School who had just enrolled in classes on Thursday, appeared to have been an accident, authorities said. An official ruling is still pending from the state medical examiner in Baltimore, where the teenager's body was taken yesterday.

Sheriff's detectives have interviewed students who witnessed the death and are continuing their investigation, authorities said.

Franklin's mother, Shari C. Hubbard, declined to comment. The teenager's pastor, Kenneth Harrison of Lord's Church of Restoration in Clinton, called the death "a grave accident."

"We have a lot of information coming in. We don't want to blame the school yet until we find out more," Harrison said.

Harrison said Franklin grew up in Gaithersburg and spent much of his teenage years in Waldorf. He was in a go-go band and was pursuing his music vigorously, Harrison said.

"He was really doing good with that," Harrison said.

According to the sheriff's office and school officials, the incident occurred during a third-period physical education class, which started about 9:30 a.m. About 10 a.m., the class moved to an open field to play soccer, authorities said.

Franklin and eight other students were trying to lift the heavy frame of a soccer goal that was face down on one of the high school's athletic fields, said Kristen Adkins, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. As the students heaved the steel frame upward, Franklin slipped to the ground, and other students dropped the goal, Adkins said.

The frame struck Franklin in the head, knocking him unconscious, authorities said. The class's teacher, who authorities said was supervising the activity, immediately began first aid while students ran inside the school and alerted a nurse.

By 10:09 a.m., a school official had called 911, and seven minutes later, a Maryland State Police helicopter landed on the school grounds to take Franklin to a hospital, authorities said.

Franklin was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Prince George's Hospital Center, authorities said.

Westlake Principal L.C. Martin addressed students after the incident and informed them of Franklin's death by early afternoon. A letter was sent to parents, and Martin said grief counselors would be available to students.

The school system would not release the name of the male teacher who was supervising the lifting of the goal frame. "Horseplay" did not cause the incident, said Katie O'Malley-Simpson, a school system spokeswoman. She added that the teacher was near the students and watching them.

O'Malley-Simpson said the teacher would not be placed on leave unless he requested it.