Community mourns 17-year-old Massachusetts high school senior killed in wrong-way crash

Remembering the life of a high school senior killed in a wrong way crash on the North Shore. We have team coverage tonight. Boston 25's Eddie Morillo speaking with state leaders about what's being done to stop these tragedies. But first, our Bob Ward has learned the latest of what happened. He joins us now in studio. Bob, the 17 year old is being described as a kind and caring person. Well, Shannon, this is a tragedy that is impacting several communities. The driver killed in this wrong way crash was a 17 year old senior at Triton Regional High School. Authorities now are trying to figure out exactly why this happened. State and local police on scene early Sunday morning on Route 1 in Revere near Saugus. That's where authorities say a wrong-way driver traveling south on the northbound side of Route 1 struck another car and burst into flames. The crash killed the wrong-way driver. The driver of the second car suffered only minor injuries. Authorities say the driver killed was a 17-year-old senior at Triton Regional High School. In a statement, the superintendent said the community is heartbroken. Quote, our student was highly involved and connected to many within the Triton community. Those who knew him saw daily how kind and caring he was to each and every member of our school community. Massachusetts House Minority Leader Bruce Tarr tells us the tragedy is having a deep impact on his community. And this is a loss, a grievous loss that everyone in those communities will feel. And it's incumbent on all of us right now to support them as much as we possibly can. to realize that these kind of losses are unthinkable and try to help everyone make it one hour to the next hour. For the next week, grief counselors will be available to all students who are struggling with this sudden loss. Meanwhile, state police investigators are working to determine exactly how this happened, why this driver was on the wrong side of the highway, and what can be done to prevent future tragedies. It is a difficult time. I've been driving a long time, and when you're just starting out, it can be difficult to concentrate, and there's so many distractions these days. That's what causes a lot of problems, too. So how does a death like this affect a community like this? It affects it deeply, since a lot of the people know the person. They may have been important in their community. Even at age 17, they might have been a star on one of the sports teams. Could have been the son of a policeman. Could have been anybody. There are so many questions tonight now the state police assigned to the Suffolk County DA's office is investigating this crash. I'm Bob Ward for your local station, Boston 25 News.