Students and staff at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope are mourning the death of one of their own, casting a somber mood over the school's prom weekend.
Kalonyea Wopea, 17, a junior at the north metro school, collapsed and died Thursday evening while playing basketball at the Northwest YMCA in New Hope, which is near the high school, police and school officials said Friday. Police and paramedics performed CPR and used a defibrillator, but he could not be revived and was pronounced dead at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, according to New Hope police.
Wopea was known to his classmates as "K.B."
In an e-mail or automated phone call to families of its students, assistant principal Susan Manikowski said, "We are all grieving this tragic loss of a young life today. We have been providing support for students throughout the day, and have and will allow those students to leave school if they need to, with parent/guardian permission. We are encouraging students to support each other and we encourage you to check in with your child as well. ... Losses like this remind us of how fragile life is."
The Hennepin County medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy.
PAMELA MILLER
