911 caller: Teen 'got shocked', fell from Durham electrical tower

A 14-year-old boy who died Saturday while climbing an electrical tower in Durham touched "a thing" at the top of the tower, got shocked and fell, his friend told a 911 dispatcher.

Posted 10:41 p.m. Jan 30, 2012 — Updated 2:21 a.m. Jan 31, 2012

DURHAM, N.C. — A 14-year-old boy who died Saturday while climbing an electrical tower in Durham touched "a thing" at the top of the tower, got shocked and fell, his friend told a 911 dispatcher.

The 911 caller and another boy were with Blake Hubbard, a ninth-grader at Trinity School, when he died. The boys were in the woods near the dead-end on King Charles Road when they came across a "path of electrical things" near Jordan High School, the caller said.

Hubbard climbed the tower, which is marked with a sign reading, "Danger. Keep Away. High Voltage."

The caller told 911 that Hubbard got shocked and fell from the tower, landing flat on his back underneath it.

"I think he might be dead. Hurry," the caller said.

The dispatcher told the caller to send the other boy to the roadway to flag down emergency workers and lead them to Hubbard. The caller said he wasn't sure if Hubbard was conscious, but that he didn't think he was breathing.

Police have said that the cause of death is still under investigation, but they believe it was accidental.

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