“Looked like lightning had hit him directly”

“I saw lightning strike and someone just fell down,” the caller told authorities

• Ethan Lawrence, 19, died after he was reportedly struck by lightning while jogging at Vista View Park in Davie, Florida, on Sunday morning, June 30.

• A 911 call from a woman reporting the incident was released, in which she can be heard saying: “I didn’t see the person get up.”
  

• Lawrence’s mother, Lourdes, expressed her heartfelt tribute on Monday, saying her son was “my best friend, my confidant, my shining star, my pride and my source of endless joy.”

According to NBC 6 and CBS News Miami, authorities have released an audio recording of a 911 call in which a witness describes how 19-year-old Ethan Lawrence was struck and killed by lightning.

Lawrence was fatally struck by lightning in Davie, Florida on Sunday, June 30, just six months after giving birth to his first child, daughter Emara, with his girlfriend Andrea.

Lawrence, of Broward County, died at Vista View Park around 10:24 a.m. local time, Davie police previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

In the recently released phone call, a woman told the emergency dispatcher, “I think someone up on the hill got struck by lightning. I saw lightning strike and someone fall down,” according to NBC 6. “I was just leaving the scene when a large bolt of lightning struck and I didn’t see the person get up.”

The woman added that because of her position on the hill, she was not sure if he was hit.

“I was driving along the bottom of the hill to leave the park when a massive bolt of lightning struck. I saw a guy walking up the hill and then all of a sudden he was at the bottom,” she said. “It looked like the lightning had struck right on him.”

“It looked so scary and then the person just fell to the ground,” she said, NBC 6 reported.

Related topics: 19-year-old father dies in lightning strike 6 months after becoming a father: “My pride and joy”

Davie Police previously confirmed to PEOPLE that after receiving the 911 call and arriving at the scene, authorities “discovered a deceased adult male in the park.”

Lawrence’s mother, Lourdes, told WSVN she sent her husband, Patrick, to search for her son after the location on his phone didn’t change for hours.

“Then the detectives came to my car and told me, ‘I don’t know if there’s an easy way to say this, so I’ll just tell you that unfortunately your son was running, got struck by lightning and didn’t make it,'” Patrick said, according to WSVN.

Police confirmed that the Broward County Coroner’s Office is assisting with the ongoing investigation.

Related: Man dies after being struck by lightning while trying to rescue children from beach during thunderstorm

The deceased teenager was previously a student at Jacksonville University on a distance learning scholarship, but recently transferred to Nova Southeastern University to be with his girlfriend and baby, WTVJ reports.

Andrea, Ethan’s girlfriend, told WSVN she was “still in shock. I’m still trying to process this because it happened like that. Within seconds he texted me in the morning, ‘Good morning honey, I woke up late today.'”

On Monday, July 8, Ethan’s mother shared a heartfelt tribute on Facebook to the “village” where Ethan grew up.

“Ethan was not just my son; he was my best friend, my confidant, my shining star, my pride and my source of endless joy. Even at a young age, Ethan showed an incredible level of empathy and understanding for everyone. Ethan’s kindness extended far beyond our family,” she wrote.

“He was always there for his friends, always had a listening ear and a comforting word. His teachers often spoke of his helpfulness and his ability to put a smile on everyone’s face.”

“He was my pride and joy and I can’t believe I’m going to continue this life without him,” Lourdes previously told WSVN.

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The Lawrence family set up a GoFundMe page on Thursday, July 4, to “keep Ethan’s memory alive through the support of this scholarship fund.” At the time of publication, over $10,000 of the $50,000 goal has been raised.

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