A lightning strike in Jackson Township, New Jersey, left one man dead and 13 others, including children, injured on Wednesday night.
It happened at the Black Knights Bowbenders Archery Range, during an event organized by a Cub Scout troop, police said. Some of the victims were as young as seven years old.
Police said they received the emergency call around 7:13 p.m. and when they arrived, CPR was being performed on a male victim and another person had been knocked unconscious, then regained it.
They identified the victim who died as 61-year-old Robert Montgomery, from Cinnaminson Township. Several of the other victims reported burns and were taken to nearby hospitals.
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The Black Knight Bowbenders Archery Club sits on nearly 40 wooded acres, according to the club’s Facebook page. The facility includes outdoor and indoor archery ranges.
According to police, Wednesday’s event was attended by members of Jackson Cub Scout Pack 204.
Glen Grodzki, the publicity director for the club, told NBC News that it wasn’t raining and there was no thunder, adding “It was just like the finger of God and pow, and that was it, people were laying on the ground.”
Weather.com meteorologist Tiffany Savona analyzed radar data and said it appears the lightning strike at the range was located about 5 miles away from the parent thunderstorm, which is why it wasn't raining at the time of the strike.
She adds, "The thunderstorm was in the process of developing so this deadly strike was likely one of the first strikes in Jackson Township. The storm intensified as it moved away from the archery range prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.
The eastern portion of Jackson Township was included in the warning, but the western portion was not and this is where the archery range is located."
Severe thunderstorm warnings are not issued for lightning and there actually are no warnings for lightning. You just have to pay attention to your weather.com app or other weather apps for lightning alerts.
Savona also had this important advice, "Please remember that lightning can strike up to 25 miles away from a thunderstorm, so when thunder roars, you must go indoors. Please keep an eye on the sky as well. If the sky looks dark and ominous, that is another clue to head inside."
New Jersey Governer Phil Murphy asked for prayers for everyone involved, in a post on X, where he said he had been briefed on the tragedy.
At least 12 people have been killed by lightning strikes so far this year, according to numbers from the National Lightning Safety Council. The deadly strikes happened in North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, Georgia and New Jersey. The locations range from ponds and rivers, to golf courses and beaches.
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