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Roanoke Rapids 6th grader dies in 4-wheeler accident

A Roanoke Rapids community is mourning the loss of a sixth grader from Chaloner Middle School.

Posted Updated

By
Bryan Mims
, WRAL reporter
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. — A Roanoke Rapids community is mourning the loss of a sixth grader from Chaloner Middle School.

A spokesperson from the school district said Brett Peterson, 11, was killed in a 4-wheeler accident on Sunday. The news was shared with families late Sunday night.

Brett's grandfather said he was driving his four-wheeler by himself along the edge of this cotton field on family's property. The ATV overturned, he says, and landed on Brett.

The Halifax County Sheriff's Office says the child was not wearing a helmet.

Peterson lived with his grandparents and was an avid hunter and fishermen, his family said. He loved to play in the woods off Hedgepeth Road. One area of the forest, near a creek, he called "Brett's Place."

"He was a real country boy," said Brett's grandfather, Mark Peterson.

Interim Superintendent Julie Thompson said all Roanoke Rapids Graded School District counselors will be at the school on Monday to help students and staff process the loss.

"We will continue to keep Brett's family, his classmates, and teachers in our thoughts and prayers," she said. "We will support each other and walk this difficult road together as a school community.”

Brett Peterson, was known to talk with anybody at Chaloner Middle School in Roanoke Rapids.

"Just about everybody knew him and had a Brett story to share. So our hearts are heavy today," Thompson said. "Today is a hard day. No family should have to go through this.

Between 1982 and 2018, there were at least 15,744 ATV-related fatalities, per the Consumer Product and Safety Commission. Many of those deaths were among young children.

School officials say he was an extrovery, and loved telling stories about his life in the country.

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