Community mourns South Florida senior who died in crash near campus before graduation

An investigation into a fatal crash involving a South Fork High School senior continues Thursday night.'On his way to graduation practice': Florida senior dies in car accident outside school entranceMartin County Sheriff John Budensiek said the crash happened outside South Fork High School in Martin County around 8:30 a.m., Thursday.Authorities identified the victim as 18-year-old Christopher Brooks. The sheriff said the Hobe Sound teenager and South Fork High School senior was on his way to graduation practice when the crash happened."This really does highlight just how fragile life is, how quickly things change," Budensiek said.Officials said Brooks was traveling northbound on Southwest Pratt Whitney Road at the intersection of Bulldog Way when he failed to slow down for stopped traffic, rear-ended a dump truck and died on impact.Budensiek said one of the first people to arrive after the crash was one of Brooks' friends."Unfortunately, one of the first people on scene that didn't quite see the crash but saw the smoke from the crash was one of his friends, and so they ran up and saw what no one should see," Budensiek said.Maria Wilmot and her 17-year-old daughter Lucia Fourie heard the crash Thursday morning while waiting at a red light in front of the school."The noise was so loud that I thought, and then we saw smoke, and then I saw the car, and everyone started running," Wilmot said.Fourie is a junior at South Fork High School."I feel so bad," Fourie said. "I've had friends who have died in car crashes. It's hard to see somebody so young have that happen to them."The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.Stay up to date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.