Georgia man killed in ‘tragic’ fireworks accident

HARALSON COUNTY, Ga. — A community is in mourning after a west Georgia man was killed after a tragic fireworks accident.

Trevor White died early Sunday after an injury in Tallapoosa. He was 23.

“The victim was holding the launch tube over his head when this tragic accident occurred,” stated Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King.

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White and friends gathered late Saturday afternoon at a home on Stone Mountain Street to shoot fireworks, according to Haralson County Sheriff Stacy Williams.

A shell that fired from a tube hit White in the torso and he suffered what officials described as massive trauma.

“It shot backwards, came down hit him in the head, went right out in front of them and exploded, and she a big chunk of concrete into his chest,” said family member Bradley Holland.

Haralson County Coroner Patty Hutcheson says White was taken to a hospital in Bremen where he died early July 4.

White’s family said White’s father died in a different way when he was the same age as his son. His aunt said the similarities are scary.

It was the same hospital, the same screams, the same pain that you thought you had buried that comes back again, and we know what’s ahead,” said Misty Lepard. “The saddest part is there’s two more girls who are going to feel that void, that he felt, that he feared that they would.”

White leaves behind a fiancé and two young daughters.

“Those girls were his life. His fiancé was his life,” Lepard said.

A GoFundMe has been created to help his family.

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White’s family said they appreciate the love that’s come from their community.

“This community, Tallapoosa, Bowden, Bremen, Buchanan, Carrolton, the love, the outpouring, the support, has been something that I’ve never experienced in my life,” Lepard said. “It has been amazing, and the entire family... are so grateful.”

Tallapoosa police and the state fire marshal’s office are investigating.

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In Oakland County, Michigan a mishap involving fireworks on the Fourth of July took the life of Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, investigators said.

First responders rushed to the scene of the incident Sunday night where they found the 24-year-old injured, the Blue Jackets said in a statement. Kivlenieks succumbed to his injuries soon after help arrived, the team said.

Although an early statement from the Blue Jackets said initial information showed Kivlenieks suffered a head injury, a representative from the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office told ABC News that Kivlenieks’ cause of death was “chest trauma” from a fireworks mortar blast. The manner of death was ruled accidental, according to the medical examiner.

The investigation is ongoing, according to the police.

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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report

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