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Boy Scout Dies, 4 Others Hurt After Alleged Drunk Mows Them Down on Long Island: Police

Four other Boy Scouts were hospitalized with unspecified injuries

What to Know

  • A car struck a group of Boy Scouts walking down a Long Island road on Sunday; one of them, a 12-year-old boy, later died
  • Four others -- three of them 15, one of them 16 -- were also hospitalized; one of those had serious injuries and had to be airlifted
  • The driver has been arrested on a DWI charge; it wasn't immediately clear if additional charges would be filed

One of the Boy Scouts hit by an alleged drunk driver as he and a group of Scouts on retreat walked along a Long Island street over the weekend has died, authorities said Monday. Four other Scouts were hospitalized in Sunday's crash.

Police identified the victim as 12-year-old Andrew McMorris. He and the other Scouts were hit near Robert Cushman Murphy County Park. A 15-year-old boy remains hospitalized for serious injuries; he had to be airlifted to a facility. A 16-year-old boy and two other 15-year-olds suffered non life-threatening injuries.

The driver, Thomas Murphy, 59, was charged with driving while intoxicated. It wasn't immediately clear if he would face upgraded charges given the boy's death. 

Police say Murphy was driving a 2016 Mercedes when he hit the boys from Troop 161 as they walked along David Terry Road in Manorville just before 2 p.m. 

At his arraginment, prosecutors said that Murphy admitted to drinking before the crash. He refused to take a breathalyzer test afterward, but prosecutors obtained a court order to test his blood. The results weren't available.

Murphy, of Holbrook, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday morning; a judge ordered him held in lieu of $250,000 bail or $500,000 bond. His driver's license was also suspended. 

His attorney, Steve Flynn, said that Murphy is a father of three, and that his client has sent condolences to the families of the Scouts. 

The Boy Scouts of America Suffolk County Council issued a statement Monday saying the Scouting family "is going through a terribly painful time," while extending their "deepest condolences" to the victim's family.

Additionally, the organization said they will support the family "any way that we can" and that their "thoughts remain with the Scouts still recovering from this incident."

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