Walkerton teacher and four students killed in collision near Thorndale

A memorial placed at the scene of a Friday afternoon collision at Cobble Hills Road and Thorndale Road near Thorndale that killed five people — a teacher and four students from Walkerton District Community School who had been competing in a softball tournament in Dorchester.

By St. Marys Independent Staff

Staff and students at Walkerton District Community School (WDCS) and members of the surrounding community are in mourning after an assistant softball coach and four students were killed in a multivehicle collision near Thorndale Friday afternoon.

Ontario Provincial Police say it was about 4:30 p.m. on Friday when the collision happened at the rural intersection of Thorndale Road and Cobble Hills Road. Police say five people died after the SUV they were travelling in collided with a transport truck and a second SUV. Two 17-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl were pronounced dead at the scene. A 33-year-old man was taken to hospital and later died, while a 16-year-old girl flown to hospital by helicopter also died.

“I just want to take this opportunity to extend my deepest and sincerest condolences to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy tonight,” OPP Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said in a video posted on X from the scene of the collision, before pausing for a moment. “To the Good Samaritans who stopped to provide assistance, thank you. To everyone who came to this crash tonight, thank you. To family members and friends, you have our deepest and sincerest condolences, and you are in our thoughts.”

Over the weekend, the five people who were killed in the collision were identified through social media posts and news reports. The adult has been identified as Matt Eckert, an assistant coach and teacher at the school. The teenagers were identified as Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford, Danica Baker and Olivia Rourke. All five were returning home after competing with their school team against 14 other teams in a high-school softball tournament in Dorchester.

According to media reports, the WDCS team placed second in the tournament.

The Bluewater District School Board issued a statement Saturday afternoon in which the board said four secondary students and one staff member from WDCS had passed away tragically in a motor-vehicle collision on Friday afternoon while returning from a sporting event near London.

“At this incredibly difficult time, we are supporting and respecting the privacy of the grieving families,” the board said in a statement. “We are unable to provide further details on the incident or identities of the individuals involved.”

Memorials were being planned in honour of the victims. There were social media posts asking residents to leave a pair of running shoes and a light on out front of their homes. On Sunday evening, hundreds turned out for a candlelight vigil outside WDCS.

“It’s an incredibly deep, deep scar this has inflicted on our community. It’s going to take a long time to heal,” said Chris Peabody, the mayor of Brockton, which includes Walkerton, according to news reports.

“We have, as a community, dealt with tragedy before, and small-town Ontario residents always rise up in the face of adversity and band together, and I know that will happen here.”

The crash was under investigation by members of the Middlesex OPP, and the West Region OPP’s Traffic Incident Management Enforcement Team were investigating. The roads in the area of the crash were closed while police investigated and were reopened early Saturday morning.

Police were asking members of the public who may have been in the area at the time to check their dash camera footage in case they may have footage of the vehicles involved. Anyone with information that could assist police were being asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.