Police Confirm Identities of 4 Victims Killed in Midland (Veterans parade train accident)
Police Confirm Identities of 4 Victims Killed in Midland - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock
MIDLAND TX 11/16/2012 - Midland Police have confirmed the identity of the four fatality victims in last night’s train accident.
37 year old Army SGM Gary Stouffer and 47 year old Army SGM Lawrence Boivin were pronounced dead at the scene. 34 year old Army SGT Joshua Michael and 43 year old Army SGM William Lubbers were transported and later pronounced dead at Midland Memorial Hospital.
As of 7:00am, five victims remain at the hospital (four in stable, one in critical), and one is currently in critical condition at University Medical Center in Lubbock
The National Transportation Safety Board has arrived at the scene of the incident and they are working in coordination with other agencies on the investigation.
At 9:00am, Mayor Wes Perry will host, along with pastors Patrick Payton and Roy Smith, a community wide prayer vigil to help show support for the victims and their families that have been affected by this recent incident. The prayer vigil will take place at the Centennial Plaza in Downtown Midland.
Mayor Perry is asking citizens to show support by lowering their flags to half-mast until Monday morning at 8:00am.
On November 15th 2012, at approximately 4:36p.m., the Midland Police Department, along with EMS were dispatched involving a train collision.
The preliminary investigation shows that the Hunt For Heroes parade was traveling westbound on Wall Street when it tuned south on Garfield Street crossing the train tracks. The last two floats in the parade were carrying the heroes and their spouses. The first flatbed crossed the train tracks completely; the second did not make it across before being struck by the train. The Union Pacific Train was traveling eastbound when it struck the float. Some of those who were riding on the second trailer attempted to evacuate before the train collision. There were 26 people on the flatbed when it was struck by the train. They included 12 heroes, 12 spouses, and two escorts.
For information on Show Of Support, Hunt For Heroes, visit www.showofsupport.com.