Autopsy Complete on Teen Killed by Hammer Throw

A coroner has listed head trauma as the preliminary cause of death of a college student who died after being struck during a hammer-throw event at a track-and-field meet near Chicago, the AP reports. The DuPage County Coroner's office says in a news release that it reached the preliminary finding after conducting an autopsy on the body of 19-year-old Ethan Roser. Roser was working as a volunteer during Saturday's meet at Wheaton College, where he was a freshman, when he was struck by an errant throw of the large metal ball attached to a steel wire called a hammer.

Wheaton Police say Roser was at the meet to measure the distance of the throws in the event and that he was standing near the field where the metal balls land, but not in it, when he was hit by an errant throw during warmups. Wheaton Police Deputy Chief Bill Murphy says that the department is investigating the death to determine if there was criminal negligence, but that there is no evidence yet showing that there was. (More accidental death stories.)