Nighttime maze fun turns to tragedy when teenager killed

A senior at West Valley High School was killed late Friday at the Incredible Corn Maze at Hauser Lake when a bus inside the maze struck him, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

Jeremy T. McSpadden Jr., 18, was acting as a role player inside the maze’s zombie attraction, the Sheriff’s Office said. He died at the scene.

The longtime Halloween attraction added a “zombie slayer bus” feature this year, where paying guests shoot at attacking “zombies” with paintball guns mounted on the outside of the converted school bus.

Witnesses said McSpadden came out of his hiding spot and rushed toward the moving bus, Sgt. Ward Crawford said. He then stumbled and fell directly in front of the passenger-side rear tires of the converted school bus, Crawford said.

Witnesses told investigators that the bus was moving so slowly that the speed did not register on the speedometer. Passengers inside the bus did not realize that McSpadden had been run over because of the bumpy ride, Crawford said. Many didn’t realize what had happened until role players began to reset for the next bus.

The incident took place at 10:30 p.m. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor, the Sheriff’s Office said.

West Valley School District spokeswoman Sue Shields said the district’s crisis team was mobilized Saturday and Principal John Custer had been in touch with the family to offer assistance.

A team of counselors will be brought to the high school when classes resume Monday.

“There will be places for students to go in case they need to leave class,” Shields said.

McSpadden’s twin sister also attends the school and an older brother is a recent graduate.

“He had family there and lots of friends,” Shields said. “He was very involved. He was on the baseball team. It’s going to hit our West Valley family very hard.”

The West Valley High School community already has been dealing with grief from two other recent incidents. Freshman Ryan Holyk was killed in May when he was struck by a sheriff’s deputy while riding a bicycle. Earlier this week, recent graduate Michael Corder was killed in a crash with a semitruck.

“We’ll do our best to support and nurture everybody through this tragic loss,” Shields said. “We’re close and we’re tight-knit. It hits us all hard when we lose one of our own.”

Saturday afternoon, a large spray-painted “Closed” sign leaning against sawhorses blocked off the parking lot at the Incredible Corn Maze. A deputy on site said no one was on the property. Attempts made to reach the business were unsuccessful.

The Incredible Corn Maze posted a message on its Facebook account Saturday morning announcing that all attractions would be closed for the weekend.

“We are sorry to announce that all attractions, including the free drive inn movie has been cancelled for the remainder of the weekend,” the attraction’s Facebook page said. “We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. Please check back as we will continue to make posts regarding operations. Thank you.”

The attraction posted another statement Saturday evening offering condolences but saying it couldn’t comment further.

“Our heart-felt condolences go out to the family and all those affected by this tragic accident,” the page said.