The Iowa Lakes Community College baseball player killed in a bus crash that occurred in Northwest Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 11, has been identified.
Carter Johnson, 19, of Rapid City, South Dakota, was identified as the one person killed in the crash during a news conference held Thursday, Feb. 12 by Iowa State Patrol Lt. Aaron Schmidt, according to the Des Moines Register ― part of the USA TODAY Network.
The single-vehicle crash happened on an Iowa highway around 11 a.m. local time en route to a baseball game in Arkansas, with 33 passengers on board. All the passengers in the bus were taken to hospitals across Iowa.
“This has been an incredibly difficult time for our community college community,” Iowa Lakes Community College president Scott Stokes said during a news conference Thursday. “Our students, faculty, staff and family have been deeply affected.’
Johnson, affectionately known as ‘Tater,’ was a freshman outfielder for the Iowa Lakes Lakers, according to the team roster. He attended Rapid City Stevens High School in Rapid City, South Dakota, before he arrived at Iowa Lakes Community College.
“Our baseball team is more than a roster. They’re a family,” Iowa Lakes athletics director Troy Larson said. “Carter was a great teammate, a friend and a valued member of our athletic community.”
Johnson was dead upon the arrival of local law enforcement to the accident scene, according to a news release from the Iowa State Patrol. Schmidt added that some of Johnson’s teammates ― including some who traveled in a separate van ― were attempting CPR on Johnson when officials arrived on the scene.
Schmidt did not know the exact conditions of the crash victims during the press conference, but stated they were all recovering.
According to a report from KCCI, Iowa Lakes has canceled classes through the rest of the week, while Calhoun County Emergency Management has declared the crash a mass casualty incident due to the number of injuries, per a news release posted on Facebook.
‘Iowa Lakes is a strong community, and we will walk through this together,’ Larson said.