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Two Cumming men ID’d in fatal garbage vs. dump truck crash
Second driver airlifted to Grady
Wreck

The names of two people who were killed in a wreck when a garbage truck and dump truck collided at the entrance to Fowler Park in south Forsyth about 2 p.m. Monday were released by authorities midday Tuesday.

Rodrick Thompson, 38, and Ta’shaun Thompson, 21, the garbage truck’s driver and passenger, respectively, died on scene, according to Deputy Andrew Ives with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s traffic specialist unit (TSU).

The driver of the dump truck, 59-year-old Thomas Wirkner, of Marietta, was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after emergency crews pulled him from the truck. He was that vehicle’s sole occupant.

According to Ives, Thompson was driving a white 1999 Mack truck east on Castleberry Road approaching Atlanta Highway when a black 2005 Mack Dump truck heading north on Atlanta Highway was approaching the intersection with Castleberry Road and Carolene Way.

The garbage truck attempted to turn right onto the southbound side of Atlanta Highway, but Thompson was unable to negotiate the turn and the truck tipped over onto its left side, sliding into the northbound roadway.

Wirkner attempted to veer to the right to avoid hitting the garbage truck, but the two vehicles collided head-on, coming to a rest in the northbound right turn lane and shoulder of Atlanta Highway.

As of Tuesday morning, Wirkner was still in critical condition but was showing some responses to doctors’ commands after undergoing multiple procedures throughout the night, Ives said.

The sheriff’s office closed the intersection for about four and a half hours Monday, reopening the area around 6:30 p.m. All southbound traffic on Atlanta Highway had been re-routed onto Castleberry Road, and all northbound traffic on Atlanta Highway was being re-routed to Fowler Road.

TSU responds to serious and fatal wrecks and is leading the investigation into the crash with assistance from the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division.

A YouCaring page — an online fundraising site similar to GoFundMe — has been set up to help pay for funeral expenses, as well as a Meal Train for the men’s families.

The two each leave behind a significant other and a total of five children. Though social media appeared to connect them by some form of familial relation, it was not immediately clear how they may have been releated.

To donate a meal or contribute to the funeral expenses, visit mealtrain.com/trains/6g928d and youcaring.com/thethompsonfamilies-954686.