A suspected drink driver has been arrested and charged with two counts of death by auto in New Jersey, following a collision which killed professional ice hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, a day before the siblings were due to act as groomsmen at their sister’s wedding.
31-year-old father-of-two Gaudreau, a winger for the Columbus Blue Jackets and one of the National Hockey League’s most popular and successful players, was cycling with his younger brother Matthew in Salem County, New Jersey, on Thursday night when they were hit from behind by Sean Higgins, who allegedly told police at the scene that he had consumed “five to six beers” before the fatal crash.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as New Jersey state troopers, confirmed the Gaudreau brothers’ deaths on Friday morning.
The collision took place at around 8.30pm on Thursday evening on Pennsville Auburn Road near Stumpy Lane in Oldmans Township, 6 ABC reports. Local police have said that 43-year-old Higgins was travelling northbound on the road in his Jeep Grand Cherokee when he attempted to overtake two other drivers.
After passing the first motorist, Higgins then began to try to overtake the driver of an SUV, who had just moved into the middle of the road in order to give the two cyclists space.
As the SUV driver moved out, however, Higgins then decided to perform an undertake on the right-hand-side of the road, hitting the brothers from behind. They both died at the scene from their injuries.
According to the police affidavit, the officer who arrived on the scene detected a “strong odour of alcohol”, while Higgins allegedly told him that he had consumed “five to six beers” before the collision.
The 43-year-old motorist – who failed a field sobriety test carried out soon after the crash – also allegedly told investigators that he thought the driver of the SUV was trying to stop him from passing, and that his alcohol consumption had contributed to his impatience and reckless driving.
Higgins has been charged with two counts of death by auto, and is currently being held at Salem County Correctional Facility.
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The tragic death of the two brothers, aged 31 and 29, came the evening before they were due to attend their sister Katie’s wedding, with Johnny and Matthew both listed as groomsmen on her wedding site.
Nicknamed ‘Johnny Hockey’, the diminutive Gaudreau – at 5ft 9, he pioneered a new wave of quick and skilful players in the physical world of ice hockey – was one of the National Hockey League’s most emblematic stars, spending nine seasons with the Calgary Flames, where he became the team’s fifth-highest points scorer of all time, before moving to the Columbus Blue Jackets two years ago.
A fan favourite and skilful playmaker, he scored 20-plus goals a season six times, and during an NHL All-Star season in 2021-22 managed a career-best 40 goals and 75 assists. A participant in the NHL All-Star game seven times, Gaudreau racked up 642 points in 644 regular season and playoff games since turning professional.
In a statement released on Friday morning, the Columbus Blue Jackets said they were “shocked and devastated by this unimaginable tragedy”.
“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice,” the franchise said.
“He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played from Boston College to the Calgary Flames to Team USA to the Blue Jackets. He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could. The impact he had on our organisation and our sport was profound, but pales in comparison to the indelible impression he made on everyone who knew him.”
“Johnny and Matthew were deeply rooted in the Philadelphia and New Jersey community, where they spent their entire childhood on the ice,” the Philadelphia Flyers said in their own tribute. “Throughout all of their success in the hockey world, both continued to give back to our community. Johnny and Matthew were, and always will be, beloved and cherished members of the Flyers community and entire hockey world.”
“The National Hockey League family is shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
“While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey’, he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother, and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path.”
16 thoughts on “Ice hockey star and brother killed while cycling by suspected drink driver who allegedly had “five to six beers” before fatally striking cyclists from behind as he tried to undertake another motorist”
That’s a f*cking tragedy.
That’s a f*cking tragedy. Great player.
Clem Fandango wrote:
I actually just created a post in the forum before realising this had been posted. Absolutely disgusting waste of life and a terrible thing to happen ahead of what should have been the happiest of family moments.
I’m an NHL fan and hockey player myself.
The BBC News article uses the word ‘accident’ in both its headline and article body. Shameful in itself. ?
Cayo wrote:
Was the accident chugging half a dozen beers, climbing into his compensatory truck (penis size, personality, IQ… Take your pick what he’s making up for), or switching on the ignition?
Everything after that point is felony and he holds full culpability.
I’ve seen a couple of reports
I’ve seen a couple of reports of this, which emphasise the dangers of riding on the road: not drinking and driving! Mad, they’re all mad.
It doesn’t surprise me at all
It doesn’t surprise me at all as the BBC don’t particularly care about reporting guidelines as they deal with their own complaines (i.e. send an email a month after the complaint detailing that they’re either ignoring it or will change the details for a month old article that no-one will come across and read again). They are bastions of motonormativity and it’s rare that they can have an article featuring cyclists without it being focussed on helmet use.
Here’s the guidelines: https://www.rc-rg.com/guidelines
This is the BBC story
This is the BBC story referring to it as an accident:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce81wp4xkkgo
This is where to report an error in BBC news:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55077304
This is where to make a complaint:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints
It’s neither an “accident”
It’s neither an “accident” nor an “unimaginable tragedy.” It’s a homicide.
And blaming alcohol is the usual U.S. cop-out for avoiding the bigger issue in this country: aggressive driving. It’s widely tolerated in a country where motorists have been for decades coddled with the idea that travel by motor vehicle should always be easier and faster.
An undertake as described in this case would be standard practice for a U.S. driver – drunk or sober – who thought another driver was trying to “impede” his need to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.
It’s what making riding on U.S. roads so dangerous. And if the diver had been sober and stayed at the scene, he might well have gotten off with a slap on the wrist, if that, for killing two cyclists.
See U.S. football coach Greg Knapp and the driver who killed him: https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2021/09/23/no-criminal-charges-pursued-in-san-ramon-crash-that-killed-nfl-coach-greg-knapp/
Or the case of Pedro Quintana-Lujan who ran head on into a group of 20 cyclists killing two and injuring 17, some seriously: https://www.azfamily.com/2023/11/30/suspect-deadly-goodyear-cycling-crash-wont-face-felony-charges-county-attorney-says/
There is, amazingly, even more tolerance for bad driving in the U.S. than in the UK.
While I agree with most of
While I agree with most of your points, to state that such an undertaking maneuver is standard practice in the U.S. is blatantly false. The vast majority of drivers would never attempt this. Although they do make their presence felt quite disproportionately, overly aggressive and reckless drivers make up a small percentage of all drivers. These drivers are just as dangerous as drunk drivers and should be treated in the same manner. I whole heartedly agree that the tolerance for injuring or killing cyclists in this country is apalling and the lack of consideration for any non-autmotive road users is a major problem. Also, yes it’s not an accident, but it is certainly a tragedy and can be called such while also being treated as homicide.
Complaint made, thanks
Complaint made, thanks
Despite, what we know to be
Despite, what we know to be several complaints, including my own, nearly 2 days after the article was published they still haven’t changed it. This should be the simplest complaint that they have to deal with, if they actually gave a f**k.
The Guardian thankfully know what the guidelines say. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/30/johnny-matthew-gaudreau-dead-columbus-blue-jackets?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
IanMK wrote:
I don’t like the Graundia’s headline though as they imply that the (autonomous?) car was doing the hitting. I think it should be “Columbus Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau and brother killed when bicycles hit by car driver”
In my experience of BBC complaints, they wait at least a couple of weeks before either dismissing it or making a small change to the article that no-one will ever see (no longer “news”).
hawkinspeter]
And yet when I complained to them that they’d called then Chicago Blackhawks player Patrick Kane “Harry Kane” ?, they corrected the article within an hour. If only they were so keen to do so now.
It’s not like the BBC don’t
It’s not like the BBC don’t know what term to use when they think it matters not to imply that there’s nobody to blame.
The BBC have finally changed
The BBC have finally changed the article title to “NHL star Gaudreau and brother killed in bike and car crash”.
Better, but still ignoring they were killed by a drunk driver. Granted, they can’t call him guilty before a trial, but the police have said he failed a test, so I see no reason why they can’t say he was drunk in the title.
As for the article contents, it still says, “killed in a car accident”, so they still have it wrong. ?
Do they really not understand (or care) why that is so offensive?
Cayo wrote:
Must have been my complaint to them on Saturday.
I don’t see a problem with not declaring that the driver may have been drunk. Yes, the driver may well have failed a test, but it’s possible (though unlikely) that the test may be faulty or that the driver may have been secretly intoxicated (there have been a couple of instances where the gut bacteria start fermenting food and making alcohol – not likely, but it is possible). It’s best for reporters to stick the known facts, so saying that the driver failed a drink test is fine, but to judge them as “drunk” is an opinion.
And yes, they should have changed the article content too. My complaint didn’t focus just on the headline:
hawkinspeter wrote:
Fair comment, I may have been guilty of ‘lazy opinionating’ there. What I meant was that they should have acknowledged the failed test in the headline. You’re right that the word ‘drunk’ would be potentially wrong in the future. Not that it’s stopped the BBC and others using questionable headlines as click bait before. They also failed to mention the alleged undertake which led to the ‘accident’.
I’ve been very much a pro-BBC person over the years but even I have reached the point where I don’t see the justification for a licence model (different conversation there) and lament the drop in journalistic standards over the last few years. Even the number of articles with typos is ridiculous now. And that’s before mentioning the number of social media style ‘news stories’ such as “Look what happened when…” or “I was… until I…”