Gretna community holds vigil for teens killed in Monday night car crash

A memorial service was held Tuesday night at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Gretna, and surrounding communities took to social media to show their support.

The community of 5,000 woke up to horrifying and heartbreaking news Tuesday morning.

Five teenagers from Gretna High School had been involved in a fiery and deadly car crash in Sarpy county late Monday night.

Four of the girls died at the scene, and a fifth is being treated at a burn unit at St. Elizabeth’s in Lincoln.

All are believed to be 15 or 16 years old.

Gretna public schools superintendent Kevin Riley said this is the worst thing that can happen to a community.

A first responder at the scene tweeted that it was the worst accident she had ever seen.

For the past two days, Gretna’s high school opened its doors for students to speak with school counselors.

Flower arrangements and wreaths were laid on the hood of some of the cars.

In the aftermath of the situation, other area school districts have been sharing posts on social media with students wearing Gretna green with the hashtag Go Green 4 Gretna, voicing their support for the grief stricken community.

The identities of the four girls who died in the crash have not been released.

The investigation into what caused the crash is continuing, we will update this story when we learn more.