Police ID Boy Who Died On Fox Mill Elementary Roof

By Karen Goff 

Fairfax County Police  have identified the teen who died in an accident at Fox Mill Elementary School late Tuesday as Bennett Rill,  age 14.

Rill, along with three other teens, was apparently playing on the roof of the elementary school on what was the last day of eighth grade for the Rachel Carson Middle School students.

Rill apparently fell into a live power cord, where he was believed to have been electrocuted and died on the scene, Fairfax County police said. The other boys were taken to the hospital but were not seriously injured.  The Fairfax County Medical Examiner will determine exact cause of death, police said.
 
Several dozen of Rill's friends gathered at Rachel Carson for support Wednesday at 1 p.m.  

Media were not allowed in the gathering, where school counselors were present, in order to give the children privacy, school security said.

Sports teammates of Bennett's were visibly shaken by the news, and remember Rill as a good friend and a good athlete.

"Everyone was friends with Bennett," said one boy who asked not to be identified.

Bennett's friends said he played shooting guard on his Chantilly Youth Association team and an AAU basketball team, and safety on a football team. He was looking forward to playing football at Oakton High School in the fall, they said.

Bennett lived in Oak Hill with his parents, Derrick and Carolyn, according to a notice from their church, Floris United Methodist in Herndon.

Derrick Rill told WJLA-TV his son had brought home straight As on his eighth-grade report card.

Derrick Rill told the TV station he drove his son to school on Tuesday.

"It was kind of special. My wife said, ‘I'll take him.’ I said no way. Last time I get to do it, so we battled over it. We said 'Love you, dad. Love you Bennett,' " Derrick Rill told WJLA.

The students at Carson said Wednesday that climbing up on the roof of Fox Mill was was a popular thing to do.

"Everyone's done it," said one boy. "I have been on the roof of the school and the trailers. It is like a Parkour [obstacle course]."

A Facebook Page, RIP Bennett Rill, has been set up by the boy's friends.


Read: Blog: 'Thoughts on Childhood, Risks, and the Fox Mill Tragedy'