WASHINGTON — A Bowie High School student passed away on a Junior ROTC trip early Saturday morning after falling ill on a charter bus filled with his classmates.
According to a spokesperson from Prince George’s County Public Schools, the 16-year-old student was on the school-sponsored trip when he reported not feeling well on the bus. The student has been identified as Okon Ntekim.
The teen became unresponsive while they were traveling through Southern Maryland near the Capital Beltway. The bus pulled off to a Exxon station on St. Barnabas Road in Oxon Hill, where paramedics were called.
After performing “advanced life support,” Ntikem was transported to a nearby hospital, and he was pronounced dead. Authorities are waiting for an official cause of death by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
School officials say there will be grief counselors in place on Monday and a letter will go out to parents.
“We send our deepest sympathy to the Ntekim family,” the Prince George’s County school system said in a statement. “[We] will do everything [we] can to support the entire Bowie High School community during this difficult time.”
Our deepest Condolences go out to the family of Oken E. Ntekim. Another soul too soon. You will be missed.
— Bowie High School (@BowieHighMd) April 12, 2015
