It was just after 6 p.m. Tuesday when high school senior Sarah Mader, 18, lost control of the car she was driving and slammed into a row of trees on Miner Lane, according to Waterford police.
She had four passengers with her. Mader and 16-year-old junior Shane Boucher, 16-year-old junior James Butler, and 17-year-old senior Nicole Littlefield have all been treated at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. They are all said to be doing fine. The 4th passenger, Matthew Carlson, a 15-year-old sophomore, is in critical condition at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Waterford High School's principal Don Macrino says, "There's a very obvious pall over the school right now. I've asked students to be hopeful but to be prepared. These tragedies happen. We certainly do everything we can to try and avoid them but sometimes we are just not that lucky."
One student told NBC Connecticut that the crash happened on "Senior Skip Day", a day when some students choose to skip school and drink alcohol.
Frank Bicardi is a senior at Waterford High School. He points out, "People decided to drink and drive and they have some railroad tracks over there and everyone goes there to try and jump them and I guess they tried to jump them."
Lt. Jeffrey Nixon of the Waterford Police department weighed in, too. "There have been a number of comments and allegations made to that effect and we're certainly looking into those factors," he said.
As of Wednesday morning, there was no indication of whether alcohol played a factor in the crash.
