Hundreds attend vigil for Burbank teens
While a football game was being played on the field at John Burroughs High, the mood was somber in front of the school as friends and fellow classmates stood around a memorial of candles and flowers for three recent graduates who were killed in a rollover accident in Santa Clarita and two others who were injured.
According to a report from the California Highway Patrol, the accident occurred early Friday morning, when the driver, identified as Ian Bulbenko, 19, was traveling on Rush Canyon Road about a mile west of Sierra Highway around 2 a.m. and his pickup truck tumbled 200 feet down the embankment.
Bulbenko, along with passengers April Townsend, 19, and Jake Gnasso, 19, died in the crash, the report stated.
Two other 19-year-old passengers, Zachary Maina, of Burbank, and Timothy Gorman, of Sunland, were transported via helicopter to local hospitals after being extricated from the pickup truck.
All five of the crash victims attended John Burroughs High.
One of the survivors called authorities around 7:35 a.m. Friday “injured and distressed,” more than five hours after the collision is presumed to have occurred, according to the report.
STORIFY: Social media mourns Burbank teens
“He must’ve have been passed out all night,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Rob Hahnlein told the Los Angeles Times.
Both of the survivors were properly restrained in their seat belts, the report stated.
Authorities have not determined if alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation, the report stated.
Beside the memorial at the school Friday night, students held a candlelight vigil where five large pieces of cardboard were attached to the wall for friends and acquaintances to write messages about the victims of the crash.
Before the vigil began, Michael Garrido remembered participating in the Burroughs’ Powerhouse Show Choir for a year with Gnasso. He recalled Gnasso had a good energy about him. “He made you proud to know him,” he said.
The 2011 graduate said Gnasso’s talents were what made him stand out. “The greatest thing about him was his voice,” Garrido said. “The fact that no one is going to get to hear his voice to its full potential hurts the most because he had a gift. No one deserves this.”
Earlier in the day, loved ones were reeling on social media, remembering their friends who lost their lives too soon.
Gnasso, who also played on the football team, was remembered for his talent in the choir, with friends posting YouTube videos of him singing.
One friend on Instagram remembered Townsend as a free-spirit who “made friends with everyone she met.”
The tragedy is all too familiar for some of Burbank’s youth, who were dealt a similar blow last September after a fiery drunk-driving crash claimed the lives of five young people.
One friend posted on Twitter, “This is the second time I have gotten a call that more then one friend is dead due to a car accident. Same time of year. This can’t be real.”
