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Sheriff: Student died in fraternity initiation

‘We don’t think it was anything that was done on purpose’

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VIDEO: Sheriff's Press Conference

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: November 20, 2008

HICKORY - The preliminary investigation into the death of Lenoir-Rhyne University student Harrison Kowiak found he died of injuries sustained in a game of capture the flag while participating in a fraternity initiation activity.

"We've heard three or four different versions of what happened that night, but we don't think it was anything that was done on purpose," said Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman.

Some witnesses claimed Kowiak's injuries were sustained during basketball or football games and because the Sheriff's Office investigators received inconsistent accounts, they continued their investigation to come to a positive conclusion about the 19-year-old Tampa, Fla., youth's death.

Huffman said the most accurate account of the incidents leading up to Kowiak's death is that his head hit hard on the frozen ground during a game of capture the flag while pledging Theta Chi fraternity.

The accident happened Monday around 11 p.m. in a pasture along N.C. 127 South.

Between 17 and 20 members of the Theta Chi fraternity gathered at the private and gated field in southern Catawba County near Greedy Highway.

"It's commonly referred to as the Buffalo Farm," said Capt. Roy Brown of the sheriff's office.

The field was dark Monday night, there were no lights and the students were dressed in black. "It was part of the game," Brown said.

While playing the game, Kowiak suffered a severe blow to the head, but witnesses were unable to explain the specifics of how the injury happened, said authorities.

Kowiak remained conscious after his injury but witnesses reported that "He was not making a lot of sense and he had lost some motor control," Brown said.

Rather than calling 911, the students drove Kowiak to Frye Regional Medical Center, where he was treated before being flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He died near midnight Tuesday.

Sheriff's office officials said their investigation into the death began early Wednesday morning.

"There's nothing to indicate that there was any anger or foul play there," Huffman said. "I don't think they were trying to hurt anybody at all."

Huffman said the capture the flag game is being considered initiation rather than hazing because it was not intended to degrade, humiliate or cause the pledges harm. The game was focused on proving strength and endurance.

Although he doesn't think the students meant for Kowiak to get hurt, they do need to re-evaluate their rituals.

It does not appear the students were engaged in binge drinking.

"If these guys had shown up at the ER after drinking heavily, we would know it," Brown said.

The sheriff's office has been in communication with the family and, although neither they nor the Kowiak family suspect foul play, the sheriff's office is determined to find the answers to the family's questions.

What is capture the flag?

From the 1947 Scoutmaster's Handbook, pgs. 447-8:

Space — Large

Type — Strenuous

Teams — Half Troop

Formation — Informal

Equipment — Two Signal Flags

Each team has its own territory in which its Scouts are free to move as they please, but on which opponents enter at their own peril. The territories are separated by a boundary line such as a brook or a trail, etc. Any Scout crossing this line may be captured by the enemy.

The teams assemble close together at a starting point near the center of the line, each team in its own territory. On a signal, the teams proceed to set their flags at any point within 200 steps of the starting point The flags must be visible, although it is permissible to place them as inconspicuously as possible.

After three minutes another signal is given for the start of the game. The object now is to enter the enemy's territory, capture the flag and carry it across the line into home territory without being caught. Scouts may be posted to guard the flag, but not get nearer than 50 feet to it, unless an enemy Scout goes within the 50-foot circle. They may then follow him.

Any Scout found in the enemy's territory may be captured by grasping him long enough for the captor to say "Caught!" three times. When a Scout is captured he must go with captor to the "guard house" — a tree or rock from the boundary line.

A prisoner may be released by a friend touching him, provided the prisoner at that time is touching the guard house with a hand or a foot, whereupon both return to their own territory. If the rescuer is caught by the guards before he touches the prisoner, he, too, must go to the guard house. A rescuer can rescue only one prisoner at a time.

If the flag is successfully captured, it must be carried across the line into home territory. If the raider is caught before he reaches home, the flag is set up again at the point where it was rescued and the game continues as before. If neither side captures the enemy's flag within the time agreed up on (say, 30 minutes) the game is won by the team with the most prisoners.

— Source: Usscouts.org