A sudden lightning strike at an outdoor archery range in Jackson Township, New Jersey, left one dead and 13 others injured Wednesday evening, police said. The incident occurred at the Black Knight Bowbenders facility, a 50-acre range near Six Flags Great Adventure, as a thunderstorm warning was in effect for the area, the New York Times reports. The mayor said the lightning strike occurred near a group that appeared to be a scouting organization, and a witness says the man who died was an archery club member helping to teach the kids, ABC 7 reports.
Authorities identified the victim as a 61-year-old man. The injured, whose ages range from 7 to 61, suffered burns and other ailments described as non-life-threatening. All were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz reported that officers arrived just after 7:15pm to find multiple people needing medical attention, including one who briefly lost consciousness but later revived and one on whom CPR was being performed.
Gene Grodzki, a member of the archery club, noted that emergency crews used a defibrillator on two people at the scene. He said several children with a Boy Scouts troop appeared unharmed but were still transported to hospitals as a precaution. Governor Phil Murphy described the event as "tragic" in a statement on social media. The National Weather Service notes that, on average, lightning kills about 20 people annually in the United States, with fatalities most common during summer months. At least 11 have died from lightning strikes nationwide so far this year.
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