POLICE believe three teenagers who saw a fatal skateboarding incident in Wagga on Monday night may have recorded the event on their phones.
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They say Lachlan Burgess, 17, was being towed by a car on Plunkett Drive, Lake Albert, when he fell from his skateboard and slammed into the road.
The senior student at Mater Dei Catholic College died at the scene despite attempts by an off-duty police officer to administer CPR.
Yesterday the driver, 17, was charged with manslaughter and dangerous driving.
Police said the boys’ phones had been sent to Sydney for analysis.
Lachlan was not wearing a helmet and police declined to comment on the speed of the car.
Instead they said it would form part of a brief of evidence against the driver when he appeared in Wagga Children’s Court next month.
Det Sgt Michael Handley, of Wagga police, said family and friends were among those who rushed to the scene about 6pm on Monday after paramedics were called.
Wagga ambulance station officer Adam Horsley said Lachlan had already died as a result of massive head injuries by the time paramedics arrived.
“To see someone cut down in the prime of his life, it really hits home,” Mr Horsley said.
“It was a really sad event for us to be involved in ... we were talking about it and can relate; we have kids.”
Yesterday, at a private prayer service at Mater Dei Catholic College, dozens of teenagers hugged each other as they arrived and family members met with college principal Greg Miller.
Mr Miller served as spokesman for Lachlan’s parents who, he said, were still struggling to cope with the tragic loss of their son.
He spoke of a popular young man who was looking forward to beginning year 12.
“(The family) is struggling, they are struggling, but they are finding a lot of strength from within themselves,” Mr Miller said.
“Questions about the fairness of this will be asked ... by all of us at different times, unfortunately.”
Lachlan is the youngest of four children in a family which operates an excavation business in Wagga.
His eldest brother yesterday travelled from Brisbane to Wagga to be with his family.
Mourners wrote “RIP Lachy Burgess” at the accident site yesterday.
Wagga police were continuing their inquiries into the incident.