A teacher was killed in a freak accident after a prank carried out by his students at his home went disastrously wrong.
Jason Hughes was run over by 18-year-old Jayden Ryan Wallace as the youth tried to escape with his friends after draping trees with toilet paper on Thursday.
Mr Hughes, 40, a maths teacher at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia tripped over while chasing the five teens down his road.
He was run over by one of their two cars, driven by Wallace, who stopped with two others to assist the father-of-two.
But the teacher was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where he was later declared dead, Hall County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Wallace was arrested on the scene for vehicular homicide and also faces charges for reckless driving, criminal trespass and littering on private property.
The other four teenagers, Elijah Tate Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Luque and Ariana Cruz,were also arrested for the last two charges.
Mr Hughes is survived by his wife Laura, who also taught at the same school, and was fondly remembered as a great mentor to his pupils, Daily Mail reported.
Shayden Maynor, one of his former students, said the tragedy was ‘really bad for the community’ and recalled receiving financial advice from the maths teacher.
Another student at North Hall High School, Olivia Williams, said: ‘He always tried to make conversations with students, and he always just tried to be the most supportive he could.’
Locals explained that the prank was a school tradition played on popular teachers in the lead up to the spring break.
Paying tribute to Mr Hughes, one user wrote on Facebook: ‘Always smiling, always ready with a joke, and always making everyone around him feel welcome.
‘He had a way of turning an ordinary moment into something memorable just by being himself.’
A fundraiser to support the teacher’s family had raised more than $83,000 at the time of writing.
A message on the GoFundMe page read: ‘Jason’s life was a blessing to so many, and his untimely passing will be indescribably difficult for his wife and two young boys for years to come.
‘Please use this opportunity to come alongside them in their time of immediate need and future planning for his children.’
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