Church and school mourn coach killed in traffic accident
Reporter: Craig Smith
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - A Catholic church and school are mourning a young coach killed as the result of an accident at Wilmot and Golf Links Wednesday.
The same accident hurt two other young coaches and left one of them with life-threatening injuries.
The basketball court has been quiet at our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School. It is where 21 year old Anthony Andrighetto coached middle schoolers.
School Principal Dave Keller says, "For him it was a lot more than just teaching skills, it was teaching the right attitude; how children should play the game. I would say that would be with enthusiasm."
Wednesday afternoon, Andrighetto and two other young coaches, finished up for the day and headed out. Anthony and Sam Schmid were in Anthony's jeep. Cameron Johnson was in another car.
Tucson Police say the two cars headed west on Golf Links towards Wilmot. They weren't speeding. They had a green light, when a mini van pulled in their path.
Fighting to avoid the van Andrighetto lost control. His Jeep went airborne, overturned and hit a light pole. He died at the hospital. Sam Schmid was badly hurt.
Cameron Johnson veered right. His small black car hit a large SUV head-on.
News of one coach killed, and two others badly hurt hit the school hard. Principal Dave Keller brought in counselors and held a prayer service.
"There were some tears and some of them chose to write letters to Anthony's family and telling them about some of the experiences they had. I think it's very touching that that memory is something I think they'll retain."
To Monsignor Thomas Cahalane, the name Our Mother of Sorrows took on an even deeper meaning as he led the student prayer service.
"And they were just stunned; they were just stunned. They were just completely silent during the entire service. And looking for meaning, some words of meaning that would make sense out of all of this and that's very difficult, especially for children to make any sense out of this kind of a tragedy, because for most of them this would have been their first encounter with death. And it was very personal."
Principal Keller says he was about to cancel the school's basketball games for the weekend. But the players said no. They wanted to play for Coach Andrighetto.
As of late Friday, Tucson Police have not ticketed anyone or filed any more serious charges in the wreck that killed Anthony Andrighetto. That's not to say they won't. In traffic cases TPD often waits for lab tests and more investigation before it decides on any charges.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.