EAST ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Authorities in East St. Louis say a 16-year-old high school football player has died after passing out while lifting weights.
The sophomore was in East St. Louis Senior High School's weight room when he passed out Wednesday afternoon.
St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye says Jermaine Falconer was taken to the emergency room at Touchette Regional Hospital in Centreville, where he was pronounced dead at 5 p.m.
High school spokeswoman Sydney Stigge Kaufmann says officials are investigating. Autopsy results are pending.
She says Falconer was participating in an athletic workout.
A crisis team is at the school, and the community is "grieving the loss.'' Stigge Kauffman says it's important for District 189 to offer counseling services -- East St. Louis students may be triggered by grief in more severe ways than students elsewhere.