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Laurel Highlands High School Mourning After Student Killed In Car Accident

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REDSTONE TWP., Pa. (KDKA) – Students at Laurel Highlands High School are mourning a classmate who died in a crash on Sunday.

The young man was also a volunteer firefighter.

Shawn Coleman
Shawn Coleman (Photo Provided.)

As a young firefighter, Shawn Coleman had already seen quite a few crash scenes.

But Sunday, firefighters would find themselves responding to an accident that took the young man's life.

The accident that would claim the life of Coleman happened along Route 40 in Redstone Township. Investigators indicated Coleman lost control of his vehicle only to have it struck by a plow truck as well.

"He was a student of mine at George C Marshall," said Dr. Jesse Wallace, the superintendent at Laurel Highlands School District. "I knew him and watched him grown as a little boy into a young man."

accident
Photo Credit: KDKA

Coleman was a volunteer firefighter for the West Leisenring Volunteer Fire Department. Coleman's father was the assistant chief there.

"Even at an early age I could tell he cared about others tried to help others," Wallace said.

Those who knew the 17-year-old Coleman are mourning his loss and thinking about what could have been.

"He was just a positive, well-rounded young man moving in the right directions," Wallace said. "That's what you close on and that's what you open with."

The police are investigating the accident and what caused it.

A GoFundMe account has been set up fro the Coleman family, who did not have life insurance for Shawn.

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