Bryan Snyder Scholarship Fund -

Bryan Snyder

posted Monday, February 18th 2002

Harrison mourning deaths of three

By Naomi Reese, Journal and Courier

Right - MEMORIAL: Two cars pass a graffiti covered barn Friday on Tippecanoe County Road 50 West across from Harrison High School. A memorial to Bryan Snyder, a senior who was killed in a car accident Feb. 6, is painted on the front side.
(Photo by Tom Leininger, Journal and Courier)

The Harrison High School community is coping with the recent deaths of three people who were associated with the school.

On Feb. 6, Harrison senior Bryan Snyder, 18, died from injuries he suffered in a car crash the previous day. Nearly an hour later, William D. Gustafson, 18, a former Harrison student, was killed in a car crash about a quarter-mile south of Americus.

Then on Feb. 8, former student Bryce Phelps died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound that was ruled an accidental shooting, according to Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department Maj. Smokey Anderson.

"It's overwhelming," Harrison principal Ken Siekman said. "It has been difficult for some of the kids who knew at least one of the three."

Siekman said several students didn't attend school last Monday and others sought the aid of school counselors after learning of the third death.

Sheriff's detective Bryan Cummins said Phelps' death remains under investigation and that the gun involved in the shooting has been seized by police.

According to Anderson, Phelps, Daniel Knowles, 19, Gregory Lawson, 18, and Erick Farris, 18, had driven to the site of an old, secluded burned down home at 5703 Prophets Rock Road in north Tippecanoe County on Feb. 8. There, the group took turns firing a .357 Magnum at various targets, such as old bottles and cans, Anderson said.

The four then returned to the parked vehicle and began listening to music before the apparent accidental shooting took place in the car.

None of the men had a cell phone and Phelps was in the driver's seat, so they ran to a home on Battleview Drive and called police at 5:27 p.m. Knowles, Lawson and Farris were questioned and released that night, but the gun remains in police custody.

"We are still trying determine who owns the gun," Cummins said. "It has an altered serial number."

Noting there was marijuana and drug paraphernalia found at the scene, Cummins said the information has been forwarded to the prosecutor's office for review.

Charges could be filed against the three men for visiting a common nuisance and trespassing on private property, but it doesn't appear they will be charged in connection with Phelps' death, Cummins said.

Phelps attended Harrison until mid-October, when he withdrew, according to John Wilkinson, associate superintendent of Tippecanoe School Corp. Lawson withdrew from Harrison at the end of October, and Farris withdrew from Harrison a few weeks ago. Wilkinson said Knowles is not enrolled in any Tippecanoe County school.

Cummins said the abandoned site on Prophets Rock Road has become a trouble area tagged as an extra patrol location for police.

"Kids have discovered it, but it's private property and is considered trespassing," Cummins said. "It's a problem area after dark."

The house that once stood there burned to the ground in November. Arson was suspected in the fire that rendered the house a total loss. The two-story structure, surrounded by 26 acres, stood vacant for about five years. Indiana State Police Sgt. Shana Kennedy said many hunters use the area. Charges could be filed against the three men for visiting a common nuisance and trespassing on private property, but it doesn't appear they will be charged in connection with Phelps' death, Cummins said.

Cummins said the abandoned site on Prophets Rock Road has become a trouble area tagged as an extra patrol location for police.

"Kids have discovered it, but it's private property and is considered trespassing," Cummins said. "It's a problem area after dark."

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