Student on Westfield stage collapse: 'It was pretty scary'

Westfield, Ind. — Reid Markus was shocked when the stage floor beneath him gave way and he crashed about 12 feet to the hard floor of the orchestra pit late Thursday night, during a student production of "American Pie" at Westfield High School.

"I (remember) I'm on the ground and there are people on top of me," he told The Indianapolis Star on Friday. "It's chaos, and all of the parents are running and yelling out for their kids to make sure everyone is all right."

State and local officials are still trying to figure out what went wrong.

Dramatic videos of the stage-floor collapse taken by audience members quickly went viral on social media and drew national media attention, drawing comparisons to the 2011 stage-rigging collapse at the Indiana State Fair that took seven lives and injured dozens more.

Unlike four years ago, none of the injuries Thursday were life-threatening.

Markus, among about 17 students who reported being injured, broke his leg and sprained his arm. He was among the most seriously injured.

"It was only by the grace of God there weren't more injuries that occurred there with the 12-foot drop," Superintendent Mark Keen said.

By Friday afternoon, all had been released from the hospital. Desi Hoffman was the only student to stay overnight and the last to check out of St. Vincent Carmel Hospital. She posted to Instagram that she was underwent X-rays on her foot and a CT scan on her head.

Friday, investigators still were trying to piece together what happened. During the show's final number at about 9:45 p.m., the students rushed to a platform over the orchestra pit and began jumping up and down to the Journey tune "Don't Stop Believin.'

The platform gave way and up to 30 students fell to the bottom of the pit.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security, which inspects buildings, elevators and amusement park rides, said stages are inspected by cities. It referred questions to the Westfield building commissioner's office, which did not return several telephone calls Friday.

Keen said he was pulling together construction documents and records for investigators. The Indianapolis Star filed an open-records request on Friday, but Keen has yet to provide them.

"We want investigators to be the first ones to talk with anyone involved in the production, so right now, unable to help," Keen said in an email to The Star.

Keen said the school was built in 1997, but the stage was "redone and updated just a few years ago."

Mayor Andy Cook said that a representative from the State Fire Marshal's Office was at the scene Thursday investigating the collapse. Westfield Police also are involved.

"We'll look at the cause of what happened here and certainly take every precaution to see that it doesn't happen again," said Cook, who was up late into Friday morning visiting students and their families at local hospitals.

About 900 students, family and community members were watching the show.

As it drew to its conclusion, screams suddenly replaced the sound of singing as the students lay in the pit, covered by broken pieces of wood and metal.

Markus said he and other students had no inkling that the stage might give way. He was playing the drums in the band and rushed to the front of the stage with other cast members during the final song.

He recalls the stage platform collapsing, before he fell onto the hard floor below.

"I didn't know what happened until it happened, until I'm sitting there on the floor, looking up, and people are running around everywhere," Markus said.

Two of his friends helped him up a staircase. Emergency workers gave him ice and he headed home. His parents took him to St. Vincent Carmel that night, after pain in his arm and leg worsened.

Emergency medical technicians transported about a half dozen students to local hospitals, mainly nearby Carmel St. Vincent. Others, like Markus, checked into the hospital with their parents later in the night.

"I was honestly just shocked," said Andrew Baier, a senior at Westfield who was in the auditorium during the incident. "I didn't think that anything like that could happen, especially here at Westfield."

"Some parents rushed the stage area," said Mandi McKinley Brown, who was also in the auditorium. "Most of us stayed in our seats to stay out of the way. People were lifting large pieces of the stage out of the pit from on top of the kids."

Senior A.J. Hillis was watching the performance from the 10th row when the stage gave way. For a split second, he thought it was part of the production. Then he realized something had gone seriously wrong and he went into the orchestra pit to help carry out the wounded.

"It was pretty scary."

Sara Camden was sitting in the front row of the audience, videotaping the final number. Her son, Blake Rice, a senior, was playing guitar in the band and didn't step forward with the rest of the students. But his mom was still speechless.

"Those of us that know that pit, we know how deep it is," Camden said. "You knew what the kids were facing when they took that fall. It certainly looked terrible to witness. No one knew how to react."

Students were back in school Friday, though many who were injured in the fall stayed home.

​Chris Baldwin, human relations director for Westfield High, said the school has guidance counselors available to help those dealing with trauma from the accident.

"We just want to make sure we're there to help them," Baldwin said. "That's what we do every day."

Star reporters Jill Disis, Stephanie Wang, Michael Anthony Adams and Matt Detrich contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.