Parents At Roof Collapse: ‘No one person was to blame.’
IREDELL COUNTY, NC — Police are preparing to release the accident report in the case of the North Iredell High School roof collapse Saturday.
24 South Iredell High School band members suffered broken bones, a foot amputation and head injuries.
Monday, students and parents spoke with WCCB Charlotte after meeting with school officials and counselors.
While outsiders question the name of the driver who set the collapse in motion, victims aren’t ready to blame anyone.
“It happened so fast, you really didn’t have time to react,” said Tammy Carroll. “You heard it, you saw it and we reached and got the children out that we could.”
A moving truck carrying South Iredell’s band equipment to a competition hit North Iredell High’s awning Saturday. That’s when the concrete came crashing down.
Parents say a person in front motioned the driver to move forward, thinking the truck was clear.
“I’m very saddened that it happened, but I’m not angry,” said Carroll.
The debris missed her son, Timothy.
“We were there together as one family,” said Timothy. “We jumped in, we helped each other.”
Two days later, he and his mom walked into a private meeting for parents and students to talk to counselors and school officials.
At North Iredell High School, Principal Tammy Hays held the same meeting.
“I haven’t heard any questions about why or the what’s,” said Hays. “Everybody knows it was an accident. So now they’re coming together to pray, to be together and help themselves heal.”
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Melanie Taylor, PhD., says counseling is all the district could offer.
“The students here, they saw a lot of things they shouldn’t have seen, and they all pitched in to try to help as much as they could,” said Dr. Taylor.
Students raised more than $22,000 in one day on this Go Fund Me account to help the victims as they recover.
“It was a very horrific incident that happened, but no one person was to blame,” said Carroll.
South Iredell High School has the same concrete awning as the one that fell at North Iredell. Students say the school will remove it next year for safety reasons.
