Friends Mourn Crash Victim

Classmates and friends on Thursday placed flowers and other mementos at the site of a New Year’s Eve accident that killed a 17-year-old Edison High School hockey player and seriously injured two other teenagers.

Police Lt. Luis Ochoa said officials are still investigating the circumstance of the accident, in which Justin Buckley lost control of the Mitsubishi Eclipse he was driving and hit a pole near Brookhurst Street and Atlanta Avenue.

Police said there is no indication at this time that alcohol was involved in the crash.

Investigators recovered a canister labeled “nitrous oxide” in the car and were testing it to determine its contents and whether it played a role in the crash.

Nitrous oxide, sometimes referred to as “party gas,” is used by some teenagers as a way of getting high.

Teens sometimes fill balloons with the gas and then inhale the substance.

Erin Roy, 15, of Huntington Beach, was in the front passenger seat and suffered major head injuries and internal trauma.

She was listed in serious condition, but Ochoa said she was improving.

Vincent Massey, 15, of Huntington Beach, was seated in the back seat and suffered critical head and internal injuries.

Ochoa said both Roy and Buckley were wearing seat belts but wasn’t sure whether Massey was wearing his.

The air bag ejected on impact, protecting Roy against more severe injuries, he added.

Friends on Thursday created a makeshift memorial at the site of the crash, describing Buckley as a talented hockey player and loyal companion.

They said he didn’t drink and always demanded that passengers in his car wear seat belts.

“I can’t believe this happened,” said Abigail Richardson, a 16-year-old Edison student who had been dating Buckley for about a month.

“We were supposed to see each other last night. We got off the phone. He said he would call me back. But he never did.”

Friends say Buckley was a well-respected athlete at Edison and also played in a Pasadena hockey league.