May 24, 2012
11pm Wednesday: Honorary Prayer Service
6pm Wednesday: Fellow Students React
5pm Wednesday: Bonding Together in Grief
11pm: High School Sophomore Hit and Killed by Train
5PM Thursday Facebook Tribute Page For Teen Hit By Train
UPDATE 2/2/12 @ 11 p.m.
HURRICANE, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Students at Hurricane High School held a candlelight vigil for Jacob Ball Thursday evening.
Jacob, just one week shy of his 17th birthday, was hit and killed by a train Tuesday afternoon while he was walking home from school.
Tuesday evening, family, friends and schoolmates lit candles and shared stories about Jacob.
Jacob's sister told WSAZ.com he was bullied at school. Many students who stood up to speak talked about that bullying -- how it made Jacob a stronger person and how he used it to help them. They say he was always the first to give someone feeling down a hug or to talk to someone who looked lonely.
At the end of the ceremony, Jacob's father spoke. He said technology can be great, but it can also hurt. Friends say Jacob wore headphones to tune out the bullying around him. He was wearing those headphones when he was walking across the train tracks.
Jacob's sister has set up a Facebook page in his name, that she hopes will help stop bullying.
"I'm just trying to hold it together," Jacob's sister, Juliet Fizer said. "It's hard. This is a tragedy that should never have happened."
Jacob was killed on his walk home from school Tuesday afternoon. Hurricane Police say he died instantly and was wearing headphones at the time of the accident.
"He had it tough, always had it tough," Fizer said. "There's a piece of me that will forever feel responsible."
Fizer told WSAZ.com Jacob was a different kid, often misunderstood.
"He was constantly bullied," Fizer said. "It should be me cremated, not Jacob. I gave him those headphones."
Fizer went on to say her brother used them to get into his own private zone and drown the taunting from some neighborhood kids.
This week, a tribute page has been created to honor Jacob on Facebook. In less than two days, more than 3200 people have "liked" the page. Fizer said it's become a memorial to everyone who's misunderstood. She's hoping to share her love for her brother and send the message, that despite differences, we're all the same.
"People are different," Fizer said. "If you notice a kid sitting alone in the cafeteria, go up and say 'hello."
To learn more about Jacob's tribute page, if you search Bill Murray WSAZ on Facebook, you'll find the link.
"It's hard but I'm trying to be strong for others," says Brandon Ferrell.
Brandon considered a Jacob a friend; he admits high school can be a tough place for kids who are often misunderstood.
"Getting picked on isn't easy; I know that first hand," Brandon says. "For the past two blocks, in the library, people who never talked to each other are sitting there, talking about Jacob, bonding."
Jacob was killed walking home from school Tuesday afternoon. He died after being hit by a train. It was a tragic accident some students witnessed on the school bus ride home.
The Rev. Cheryl Winter was driving by minutes after the accident. She got out of her car to console family and students. Her faith is strong, but she believes it wasn't about preaching on Wednesday.
"Most times, Sunday school answers don't help in times like this," Winters says. "You just need to be there an let people know they're not alone."
Down the road from Hurricane High School, there is a makeshift memorial along the railroad tracks where Jacob Ball was killed. People stopping by to leave flowers, and music, that Jacob was known to love.
Early Wednesday evening, the Hurricane Police Chief confirmed Ball was wearing earphones connected to an MP3 player while he was hit by the train.
Anyone who's been to high school is more than aware of its boundaries, its cliques and its hierarchy. But grief is helping to tear those things down.
Principal Richard Campbell says, "It's tough, it's been a hard day."
But Campbell says there's something to be taken from this tragedy.
"Life's precious. Maybe the person that they didn't say, 'hi' to the day before, they'll stop and say 'hi' to now."
16-year-old Jacob Ball, a sophomore at Hurricane High School, was hit and killed by a train after school.
The accident, tragic in itself; making it worse, bus loads of students saw it all happen.
"I think of my brother," Madeleine Schempp said. "He walks the tracks and he listens to music, so I guess that's a bad combination. Not only is it an eye-opener for me, but I'm going to look after my siblings."
Dalton Rutledge told WSAZ.com he grew up with Jacob. He says they were like brothers.
"Now that he's gone, it's not going to be the same anymore," Rutledge said.
Grief counselors will be on staff Wednesday at both Hurricane High School and Hurricane Middle School to speak with the students who saw the accident, and to speak with Jacob's friends.
"When we lose a child, a 16-year-old in a tight community, it affects everyone," Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards said. "We will all feel it."
This is the second loss to Hurricane High School this school year. Back in September, 17-year-old Kara Stowers was killed in a car accident.
He said students are understandably grief-stricken by the loss. Worse yet, several students on nearby school buses witnessed Jacob get hit, Campbell said.
It happened just before 4 p.m. Tuesday near the high school.
Campbell said grief counselors will be at school early Wednesday morning to help students -- both at the high school and the middle school.
Jacob was a sophomore at Hurricane High.
They also told us the boy's name, but WSAZ.com is not releasing it without confirmation from law enforcement officials or school personnel.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
Hurricane Mayor, Scott Edwards tells WSAZ.com the accident happened on the railroad tracks just across from the high school.
The student was a male.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
We have a crew on the scene. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.
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