Community members in Marin County held a vigil on Saturday to honor four high school students who died and two others who are in critical condition following a car crash the night before.
The California Highway Patrol said the students slammed into a tree, then caught fire just before 7:30 p.m. on westbound San Geronimo Valley Road south of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near Woodacre.
Watch NBC Bay Area News free wherever you are
WATCH HERE"The sheer number of fatalities is, I don't think the shock has even set in for our community at this point, said Melissa Wahlstrom. "We're a tight-knit community, we're a small community."
According to the Tamalpais Union High School District, the victims were students at Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo.
Family members of Ada Kepley, 15, identified her as one of the deceased from the crash.
"Ada was a kind soul and gifted artist with an irreverent sense of humor that made people feel joyful and included," said her family in a statement to NBC Bay Area on Sunday. "We miss her dearly and we are struggling to process the loss of so many young lives cut short."
NBC Bay Area has not confirmed the identities of the other victims.
Hundreds of Archie Williams students, parents, teachers and neighbors filled an entire Fairfax baseball field on Saturday to mourn.
Faith leaders from two local churches and a synagogue led a candlelight vigil.
"We're going to give six minutes of silence because each person deserves their minute of contemplation," said Reverend Floyd Thompkins of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news with the Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
SIGN UP According to officials, there were six passengers in the car. Three died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital. Two others remain in critical condition.
The CHP has not released the identities of the victims.
"I think it grew on people today what had happened," said Lisel Blash the Mayor of Fairfax. "It was not clear last night [that] something bad had happened. It wasn't until today, I think, we realized the enormity of what happened and the impact it would have on so many people in our community."
In December 2022, two teenage boys were killed and three suffered major injuries when a car crashed into a tree in Novato.
"It was equally devastating to our community," Blash said.
Throughout Saturday, community members visited the crash site and left flowers and other mementos.
"We live on the edge of a rural community, there's a lot of winding roads with trees. It's very concerning that we have these issues where we have a group of young people perishing together in this terrible way," the mayor said.
