Fatal jump stuns community
SOUTH BUFFALO TWP, Armstrong County — Derek Durand's apparent suicide Wednesday stunned a community and saddened former teammates and coaches who knew the star high school football player and former standout three-sport Freeport High School athlete.
It also left everyone wondering what led Durand, who was a wide receiver at Slippery Rock University, to take his own life. He was 20.
Authorities believe Durand of Buffalo Township about 1:40 p.m. jumped off the Buffalo Creek bridge on Route 28.
He fell 100 feet and landed on the ground in South Buffalo Township near the Butler County line.
“Obviously, it's a shock,” said SRU head coach George Mihalik. “It's something you never expect.”
A freshman last season, Durand caught four passes, one for a touchdown, for SRU. But those statistics belied what he managed to achieve in his first year on the squad, Mihalik noted.
“For a true freshman to play, that's very unusual,” he said. “It speaks of what type of player he was and of his competitive spirit.”
But Durand was more than a great athlete, according to a prepared statement released on behalf of the university, “he was a great young man.”
Police said Durand drove northbound on Route 28 and parked his car off the road at the edge of the bridge. He walked about 150 feet onto the bridge and leaped to his death, authorities said.
A passing motorist told investigators that Durand jumped “without hesitation,” said Armstrong County Coroner Bob Bower.
Freeport volunteer firefighters accessed the Butler-Freeport Community Trail, which crosses under the bridge, to reach the body.
Armstrong County Deputy Coroner Brian Myers pronounced Durand dead at 2:30 p.m. of massive injuries to the head and body. The manner of death was listed as suicide. There was no autopsy.
Authorities said Durand left behind no note to explain his actions. Police found a cell phone in his car but they did not say if he made any final calls or sent any farewell texts.
“Everyone is really sad,” said Garrie Davies, a former longtime Freeport basketball coach. “Derek was a very friendly person and a very respectful young man as a player and a student.”
Davies coached Durand, a 2011 Freeport graduate, on the court and taught him in honors English class.“He was a good student and a very dedicated athlete,” Davies said.At Freeport, Durand lettered four times in both basketball and track and three times in football.He led his Freeport football and basketball teams to league championships in 2009.Durand earned first team All-Allegheny Conference honors at wide receiver and second team All-Allegheny Conference accolades at defensive back.In 2011, he was named the first U.S. Army Iron Man of the Year, an award that recognizes the best two-way high school football player in Pennsylvania.He won three medals — long jump, 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles — at last year's WPIAL Class AA track and field championships.He holds the Freeport High School long jump record at 22 feet, 8 inches.Mihalik said Durand would have contended for a starting receiver's spot on this year's team.“That's the type of talent he had,” Mihalik said, “and that's the type of intense competitor he was.”SRU sports information director Bob McComas, in reading the prepared statement, said, “The thoughts and prayers of the Mihalik family and all of Rock Nation are with the Durand family during this very difficult time.”The Redmond Funeral Home in Freeport is handling funeral arrangements.
