West Leisenring firefighter killed in Sunday afternoon crash
West Leisenring firefighter Shawn Coleman, at left, was killed in a car accident on State Route 40 Sunday afternoon. Coleman was active with the fire department for about four years.
Shawn Coleman, 17, shows off a fish he caught in this July Facebook photo. He was known for his love of fishing and hunting. He died in a car accident on State Route 40 Sunday afternoon.
Shawn Coleman, 17, shows off the results of a successful hunt in this Facebook photo. He was known for his love of fishing and hunting. He died in a car accident on State Route 40 Sunday afternoon.
West Leisenring firefighter Shawn Coleman poses in his fire gear. The 17-year-old was killed in a car accident on State Route 40 Sunday afternoon. Coleman was active with the fire department for about four years.
A 17-year-old West Leisenring firefighter died in a two-vehicle accident on Route 40 near the Brownsville Drive-In Sunday afternoon.
Shawn Coleman, a senior at Laurel Highlands Senior High School, will be remembered for his “positive and caring nature,” according to Superintendent Dr. Jesse Wallace.
“He seemed to find the positive in just about everything,” he said.
Redstone Township Police are investigating the cause of the crash. They did not release details Monday.
Counselors were available to students and staff at both the high school and middle school. Coleman had a younger brother who attended the middle school, Wallace said.
The sudden loss of the well-known student shook many students and staff members, he said.
Coleman left an impression on Wallace from a young age, when he was an elementary student at Marshall Elementary School when Wallace was the principal. He said the boy would often strike up conversations with him when they crossed paths in the hall, asking him about the things that were important to him and sharing things he also found important.
“He was a very well-mannered, very intuitive young man who really made you feel like he cared about what you had to say,” he said.
When Coleman was an elementary student, his father, West Leisenring Assistant Chief Aaron Coleman, would bring firetrucks for the other students to see, Wallace said.
Coleman was dropping his girlfriend off at her house Sunday when he lost control of his vehicle and was hit by a plow truck, according to a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for his family.
The teen did not have life insurance, according to the fundraising page.
The page raised $2,255 of its $10,000 goal in four hours.
“He was the happiest person I have ever met,” organizer Amanda Miskanin wrote on the page. “He always wore a smile and could cheer anyone up with that smile.”
A woman who identified herself as Coleman’s cousin on social media, Charity Patterson, thanked the community for its support.
“People want to know what they can do for me and our family. Love well, forgive often, speak kindness, bless others, seek guidance, help one another and don’t put these things off until tomorrow because we aren’t promised tomorrow,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Also choose to be joyous even in the darkness of life.”
Coleman’s cause of death is pending. An autopsy will not be performed. He was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Fayette County coroner’s pffice. Redstone Township Police were assisted on the scene by the coroner’s office, Fayette EMS, and fire departments including Republic, Grindstone and Brownsville.
Donations can be made to his family here.