Fort Mill student found dead outside his home

FORT MILL, S.C.,None — A community is in mourning after the sudden death of a 15-year-old boy in Fort Mill.

Clifton Carter was found dead outside his home Tuesday morning after an accident involving a pickup truck.

Authorities said Carter died after he was pinned against a tree by a pickup truck outside his home.

Carter was found near his home on Marshall Street just after 6:30 a.m.. His time of death is not yet known, and police spent much of Tuesday reconstructing the accident.

Carter was a sophomore at Fort Mill High School. His principal Dee Christopher couldn't hold back tears as he talked to reporters.

"We're trying to get through the day, trying to ... really trying to support our kids," Christopher said. "Our school is, broken-hearted."

Carter was a skilled soccer player, not only for his high school team, but he had played for years with the discoveries soccer club.

For his coach Dom Wren, the terrible news came with a bang on his door early in the morning.

"It's just a tragic loss for the whole community," Wren said. "He was just a fantastic kid. He was a great soccer player, but he was an even better person."

Carter's Facebook page was covered with messages Tuesday. The night before Carter had posted pictures of himself playing soccer, just hours before his death.

A day earlier, Fort Mill High School held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Tuesday morning they did so again, for Carter.

More than a 100 students left school early in the day to grieve in private. About 150 others sought the help of grief counselors who were supposed to be out of town Tuesday, but quickly showed up on campus.

Across town at Nation Ford High School, Principal Beverley Bowman told Channel 9 some students there had gone home, or spent time with counselors as well. Carter's mother works at Nation Ford High School.

Christopher said a loss like this causes a very deep pain. "We're just so sorry for the loss, for his family, for our school, for his friends and his teammates," he said.

WSOC