Fowler Associates Labs

August 26, 2007

Alpharetta, Georgia -A 15-year-old boy riding his bicycle was killed in Alpharetta on Sunday afternoon after he was apparently struck by lightning.

Officers were called to a residential complex on Governor's Circle about 3 p.m. after a woman told dispatchers she saw a man getting hit by lightning.

Kevin Avalar was lying unconscious in a parking lot, with his bicycle next to him, Officer George Gordon said.

The boy was taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Strong thunderstorms were passing through the area around the time that Avalar was struck.

An average of 62 people are killed each year by lightning in the United States, with summer being the peak period, the National Weather Service said.

Georgia ranks fourth in the nation in lightning deaths.

Click here for lightning safety facts from the National Weather Service