Student dies after crashing golf cart at El Modena High School

An El Modena High School student died this week after apparently crashing a school golf cart on campus into a pole, Orange police said on Wednesday.

Officers were called to the campus on East Spring Street at around 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 9, after the crash, Sgt. Phil McMullin said.

“He was on some sort of campus golf cart … and he ended up crashing,” McMullin said.

The student apparently wasn’t supposed to be using the golf cart, which was for staff.

“At the time of the incident, the student was supervised by two aides who attempted to stop him from operating the golf cart,” Orange Unified School District said in a statement. The district said the aides tried to persuade the student to exit the cart and tried to stop it as it sped forward and crashed.

The superintendent’s office referred a reporter to the statement, which does not spell out why the student had an aide or aides.

Paramedics went to the high school and took the boy to a hospital, where he died that night, McMullin said.

District officials called the incident an “unimaginable tragedy” in a message sent to families in the district.

“This was a young man who had his entire life ahead of him, and we are heartbroken by this incident,” said the message, signed by Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen and El Modena Principal Jill Katevas. “Words are insufficient to describe the pain our students and staff are now feeling.”

McMullin said on-scene officers took statements from people on campus. They do not suspect any criminal circumstances at this point, he said.

School officials said no other student was involved in the crash.

District officials said they have psychologists available to the El Modena High School community.

“This tragic accident has devastated our community, and we continue to gather the facts,” the district message said. “We will work closely with our law enforcement partners as they complete their investigation into the circumstances of this accident.”

Staff writer Jonah Valdez contributed to this story.