2 N.J. teens killed, 2 injured in lightning strike

updated 3:12 a.m. ET July 23, 2006

MONTVALE, N.J. - Four teenagers playing soccer were struck by lightning Saturday night while seeking shelter from a storm, police said. Two were killed and two were injured.

The teens, ages 16 to 19, were playing soccer outside Montvale Memorial School around 6 p.m. when they saw lightning strike nearby, police said. Two ran for shelter while two started walking off the field.

One of the teens who was running heard thunder and turned around to see lightning strike Lee Weisbrod, 19, of River Vale, and Steven Fagan, 18, of Woodcliff Lake, knocking them to the ground, police said. The other teen called 911 on his cell phone.

Police officers from Montvale and neighboring Park Ridge arrived and tried to help the teens, performing CPR and using a defibrillator on the more seriously injured ones.

Weisbrod and Fagan, who suffered severe burns and trauma, were taken to Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, where they died around 7 p.m., authorities said.

The other teens, identified only as 16- and 19-year-old Montvale residents, were taken to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. They were listed in stable condition late Saturday, and further details on their injuries were not available.

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