Wade Langston, Colorado Springs dad attending son’s high school track and field meet killed during hammer throwing accident while sitting in bleachers. But was the tragedy avoidable?
A Colorado Springs father attending his son’s track and field meet was killed when a 25 pound hammer ‘accidentally’ thrown into the bleachers struck and killed the man over the weekend.
Wade Langston, 57, who had been sitting in the spectator area was fatally struck by the object during a hammer throwing event while attending a track and field meet at the University of Colorado for high school students across Colorado, according to the El Paso County coroner’s offices.
The tragedy happened around 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, during the weight-throwing event when a competitor threw their hammer that ‘cleared certified barriers’ and ‘instantly’ killing Langston while protecting his wife and 17 year old son from being hit by the high velocity hurdling object, KRDO13 reported.
Did UCCS organizers go far enough in protecting spectators?
Langston was seated on a row of three bleachers facing away from the weight throw field and only saw the weight coming towards him at the last moment.
The bleachers faced towards the indoor running track of Mountain Lion Fieldhouse, where his son was racing for Vista Ridge High School in Colorado Springs.
Witnesses said that the throw was off-target and veered off to the left and over a 12ft net, before landing in the bleachers.
Shocked spectators who were narrowly missed by the deadly projectile screamed in panic and called 911.
‘The amount of blood was horrific,’ one witness said according to KKTV.
‘I’m devastated for the family and just furious at the incompetence and carelessness of UCCS. I saw someone die today and it was completely unnecessary.’
Following the freak accident, the remainder of the meet was canceled.
Fluke or avoidable tragedy?
A crowdfunding page set up for the father confirmed the parent was at the event to cheer on his 17 year old son.
‘On Sunday, Jan. 26, Wade Langston attended his son’s track meet where he was fatally hit by a hammer during a weight event,’ the page organizer, Tamara Rocha, Langston’s niece-in-law, wrote.
‘Wade was a devoted husband, loving father, cherished brother and brother-in-law, fun uncle, and an even more fun great-uncle. He was a truly wonderful person who brought laughter to every room he entered with his great sense of humor.’
Langston worked as a casualty claims adjuster for USAA insurance, and grew up in Lubbock, Texas, before moving to Colorado in the late 1990s.
Langston leaves behind a wife and their son, a high school senior.
The fundraiser was set up to ‘support their son who is attending college in the fall.’
‘All funds raised will go directly to his wife and son to help with college tuition,’ Rocha shared.
An unidentified parent in attendance said she had just finished watching their daughter compete in an event when she heard people screaming in horror.
‘That individual happened to be in those bleachers right in front of that netting,’ the parent told KRDO13. ‘I mean, it could have been anyone.’
Matt Krich, a throwing coach who was at the meet when Langston was killed, told the outlet that witnessing the fatal accident was ‘horrible for everybody.’
‘It was just a complete, utter, terrible fluke,’ Krich said.
Another anonymous spectator at the event said that more could have been done to protect attendees.
‘If it was certified, I would believe it would be higher up and there wouldn’t be seating there and they would have already tested it to see if there was any possible incident, anything that could be possibly happening before you had two hundred people there,’ she said.
No criminal charges
She claimed that others were also concerned about safety while at the event.
‘This lady sat next to us and she commented about how the bleachers that were next to the hammer throw or the cage and she was like, ‘That’s terrifying, why is it next to that?” the witness recalled.
A teen attending the event explained how the nets put up behind the bleachers to catch errant throws were the lowest they had seen in their six years of competing.
‘The net didn’t cover any of the bleachers, it was angled the wrong way. Their barricades were hurdles, and the nets weren’t taller than 12ft,’ the teen said.
Police said they were not investigating Langston’s death as a criminal matter.
University officials said Langston was hit by a ‘stray throwing weight’ that ‘cleared certified barriers’.
‘We are heartbroken at this horrible accident and are focused on supporting all involved,’ UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said.
Organizers are unlikely to face any legal sanctions.
