Brooklyn Center teen dies in collision in St. Michael

Jon Kramnic, 17, was a soccer standout at Buffalo High.

By VINCE TUSS, Star Tribune

Last update: November 24, 2009 - 1:15 AM

Students and teachers at Buffalo High School are mourning a 17-year-old killed over the weekend in a head-on collision in St. Michael.

Jonathon Kramnic was one of two drivers in the crash Saturday on County Road 35 near Jamison Avenue. He lived with his father in Brooklyn Center, said Laura Barta, a spokeswoman for the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose School District.

An eastbound 2001 Chevrolet Silverado pickup and a westbound 1998 Toyota Camry being driven by Kramnic collided about 6:25 p.m., the Wright County Sheriff's Office said.

The Silverado's driver, 44-year-old Todd Lifto, was taken to Mercy Hospital. No passengers were in the vehicles and the crash remains under investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.

Kramnic was headed to see friends when he was killed, stepfather Wally Schatzley said. "He was exuberant in everything. He just loved life," he added.

Kramnic was being remembered as a soccer standout who was active in a student newspaper, Barta said.

"He made a lot of friends, he knew a lot of kids," she said. "He was a great student, a great friend, so energetic and lively."

The principal sent messages to staffers and phoned parents on Sunday to inform them of Kramnic's death, Barta said. Counselors were at the school Monday to provide support, while students left messages on a rock on campus.

"A lot of students didn't come to school today because they were so distraught," Barta said Monday night.

It's the second death of a Buffalo High student in an accident in two months. In September, 16-year-old Tyler Wood was killed by a train as she walked on railroad tracks in Buffalo.

Vince Tuss • 612-673-7692

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