Georgia Tech football recruit struck, killed by freight train in Florida hometown

A high school football player bound for Georgia Tech has been struck and killed by a freight train in his Florida hometown.

Bryce Gowdy, a 17-year-old standout from Deerfield Beach High School, was hit by the freight train in Deerfield Beach and taken to Broward Health North where he died, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

The accident was reported at about 4 a.m. Monday.

Gowdy had tweeted Sunday night, "can’t wait to get to the ATL soon!"

His death has devastated the football communities at his high school and his future home at Georgia Tech.

"Our entire Georgia Tech football family is devastated by the news of Bryce’s passing," Georgia Tech head football coach Geoff Collins said through a statement on Twitter. "Bryce was an outstanding young man with a very bright future. He was great friend to many, including many of our current and incoming team members.”

“Bryce and his family will always be a part of the Georgia Tech football family," Collins said.

"I'm completely devastated," Jevon Glenn, Deerfield Beach High School's head football coach, said on Twitter. "I'm just trying to figure out how to suppress my heartbreak; lead my young men through these troubled waters [because] I know Bryce would expect nothing less from me."

The sheriff's office said "detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fatality."