(MARTIN CO.) – Authorities have identified the Shoals man who was killed when a tree fell on his vehicle.
The accident happened just after 5 p.m. on Friday along State Road 150 between Shoals and French Lick about two miles east of Shoals.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Department says 37-year-old Dustin Taylor of Shoals was driving eastbound when an entire tree fell across the highway, hitting his pickup truck.
Martin County Sheriff’s Department deputies, Shoals Fire Department first responders, a Martin County Ambulance crew and Martin County Deputy Coroner responded to the scene.
Officials say this is the second accident like this in Martin County. The first incident happened in November 2017.
According to Indiana State Police 33-year-old Eric Gootee was driving a 2008 Kenworth truck and trailer owned by Hawkins Bailey Warehouse eastbound on US 50 near Rama Dye Road or Buffalo Bottoms around 3:30 p.m. when a large tree on the south side of the highway uprooted and fell across the roadway onto the semi.
The tree crashed through the windshield and passenger compartment, fatally injuring Gootee. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
