Classmates mourn 2 boys
killed on motorbike Students at a Forsyth County elementary school were in mourning today for two classmates who were killed when the motorbike they were riding collided with a Jeep at a residential intersection. The boys were identified by police as Matthew Harkins, 11, and Colton Knapp, 12. The boys, who lived in the Polo Fields subdivision in Cumming, apparently ran a stop sign Thursday before colliding with the Jeep driven by a 23-year-old Cumming man, said Karleen Chalker of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. The boys were riding a Honda XR dirt bike that is not authorized for use on roads. They were wearing unbuckled helmets. “The helmets flew off their heads,” Chalker said. Harkins, who was driving the bike, was pronounced dead around 8 p.m. at North Fulton Regional Hospital. Knapp was pronounced dead about two hours later at Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center. Both suffered massive head and other injuries, Chalker said. The boys were students at Vickery Creek Elementary School, and were scheduled to graduate today along with 150 fifth-graders. "They were very popular young boys, full of life and well liked by all by their fellow classmates," said Paula Gault, associate superintendent of Forsyth County schools. "It's a very somber day." Teachers informed students of the tragedy when they arrived in their classrooms today. The school brought in counselors and psychologists, and ministers also were on hand. The school canceled a planned graduation assembly for the entire fifth grade and instead held graduation programs in each fifth-grade classroom. The driver of the 1997Jeep Wrangler was treated at North Fulton Regional Hospital and released. According to a preliminary investigation, the accident occurred just before 6 p.m. when the boys ran a stop sign on Lancaster Circle at the intersection of Majors Road, Chalker said. The investigation is continuing, and no charges have been filed, she said. |
Prayer
offered by John C. Samples at the funeral for Colton Knapp and Matthew Harkins. Our Father in Heaven, Please hear the prayers of your people today. Today Father, there is a thundering silence in our hearts. A silence created by the absence of two boys who were so full of life. The silence is not only in our hearts, but in the community, in the school and especially in the homes of Colton and Matt. In the depths of this awful silence, Father, we ask for your comforting presence for both families-especially for Janet and Carl, and for Barbara and Larry. We ask that your Blessed Holy Spirit come and dwell in these homes, in the school, and in the community, and by so dwelling, lead people to understand that your desire is that they walk close to you every day and discover life is eternal through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. And Father, thanks for the memories; of laughter, of boyhood adventure and dreams, of ball games won and lost (especially the wins!) and thanks for the memories of school friends who have cared so deeply and who have so freely shown that love. Thanks for the memories of the recent hours when a community has come together in mutual concern for the pain of the families of Colton and Matt. And thanks for the memory of these two families who have, in these last few hours, given the community such a powerful witness of common concern and love-the kind of love that only You can design. And Father there are the deep, personal, unknowable memories that every man and woman, every boy and girl present have, deep in their hearts. Some of these have to do with the swimming pool, the playground, the school room, the church and the home. Thank you Father for those deep personal memories that no one can take away and which will never cease. And thank you for the multitude of reasons we have for saying "Thank You Father for sending these very special boys to brighten the lives around them." God, they shall be greatly missed but thank You that their families and friends did not miss knowing them. And thank You Father for the memory of your word that teaches us that all of God’s children will be reunited in that glorious Heaven you have prepared for those who die in Christ. Monday, June 7, 1999 |