Wednesday night seemed like a normal evening at the Black Knight Bowbenders archery range, a collection of targets and picnic tables nestled among the towering trees of central New Jersey. Archers gathered for practice, their eyes trained on bull’s-eyes, while nearby almost two dozen boy scouts huddled for a lesson in the shade.
Then a crack of lightning, a deafening boom and a bolt of mayhem as hundreds of millions of volts of electricity coursed through the crowd.
The lightning strike in the town of Jackson on Wednesday killed one person and injured at least 13 more, the victims ranging in age from 7 to 61. The area was under thunderstorm warnings at the time.
But some local residents interviewed on Thursday said they had been unaware of the announcement, and that there had been little sense of imminent danger.
“It was one of those freak accidents,” Mark Machulsky, the president of the Garden State Archers, the sister club of the Black Knight Bowbenders, said on Thursday.
“There were no storms in the area. It was a cloudy night, humid night,” he said. “There were no indications at all.”
Matthew Kunz, the police chief in Jackson, identified the man who had died as Robert Montgomery, 61. Efforts to reach his family members were unsuccessful.
Mr. Montgomery was one of several volunteer instructors helping the scouts Wednesday night, according to Bob Helle, a longtime member of the Bowbenders and the group’s former president.
The scouts were part of Jackson Cub Scout Pack 204, a Boy Scouts of America-affiliated group.
Mr. Helle was not at the range when the lightning struck, but he was there on Thursday to help people retrieve the cars they had left behind in the aftermath. He said the episode had left him in a state of shock.
“You could never expect that,” said Mr. Helle. “In all the years we’ve been here, through nasty storms, nobody’s ever gotten hurt.”
None of the strike’s survivors sustained life-threatening injuries, Mr. Helle said, but some were burned and rushed to local hospitals. One person who was burned more severely was taken to the burn center at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J.
Two of the people injured were instructors like Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Helle said. At least one was a boy scout, according to the police.
The National Weather Service issued warnings for the area at around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, saying that scattered storms and showers were possible, as was flash flooding.
Later in the day the service upgraded the announcement to a severe thunderstorm warning. The announcement was posted on social media at 7:32 p.m., nearly half an hour after the lightning strike in Jackson, which occurred at 7:05 p.m.
Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist and member of the National Lightning Safety Council, said that the Vaisala Lightning Detection System had been used to determine the precise time of the strike. The range was five to 10 miles from the heart of a nearby thunderstorm, he added.
Mr. Machulsky said if the people on the range — and especially the adults responsible for the scout troop — had been aware of the warning, they would have taken cover or decided not to go out into the woods at all.
“I mean, let’s face it, they had Cub Scouts there,” Mr. Machulsky said. “They were there for their safety.”
The scouts and their instructors were standing roughly 20 yards from the range’s clubhouse when the lightning struck, Gene Grodzki, a club member who was among those who were electrocuted, said in a brief interview on Wednesday night.
Mr. Machulsky, who arrived at the range soon after the strike occurred, said that in spite of his injuries, Mr. Grodzki performed CPR on other club members, including Mr. Montgomery.
Mr. Machulsky commended Mr. Grodzki for trying to help the victims, even after being struck by the bolt himself.
“I don’t do the hero thing or anything,” Mr. Machulsky said, “but you know — your reactions are what your reactions are.”
“Did it work? No, it didn’t work,” he said. “But they did everything to save him.”
Reporting was contributed by Joshua Rosario, Rachel Wisniewski, Alexandra E. Petri, Hannah Ziegler and Livia Albeck-Ripka.
Taylor Robinson is a Times reporter covering the New York City metro area.
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
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