While the catalyst that spawned so many tears may never be known, what is evident is the effectiveness of the project known as Shattered Dreams.

Since the 1990s the Shattered Dreams program has used true-to-life images of broken bodies and broken lives that manifest in the form of a mock car accident that results in pretend deaths.

The event takes place over a two-day period that begins with the sound of screeching tires played over the school’s public address system and ends the next day with taps being played in remembrance of those killed by drunk drivers.

Wednesday morning, 1,900 students lived it.

They heard the anguished wailing of Marcus Mathews, portraying a bleeding and injured driver.

The mangled remains of his automobile were lodged into the front grill of Kimberly Hendrix’s minivan.

Next to Mathews sat a “dying “ Rebekah Sturdevant.

A jagged shard of glass jutted from her forehead.

She lay there silently as backseat passengers LaKeisha Leonard and Ernest Cabiladas struggled to find a way from their nightmare.

The wails from Leonard, Cabiladas and Mathews echoed off the facade of Killeen High School, as the students who lined a closed down 38th Street in front of the school watched in silence.

Eventually police, fire and EMS arrived at the scene.

Mathews was questioned and found to be intoxicated.

He was arrested, while Cabiladas, Leonard and Hendrix were taken to area hospitals.

Hendrix, who was airlifted from the scene, later was pronounced “dead” at Scott & White Hospital.

Sturdevant was just as unlucky.

She was pronounced “dead” at the scene by Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke.

She stayed in the car until a student dressed as the Grim Reaper took her by the arm and escorted her away from the accident.

She was laid in the street until she is loaded into a body bag and taken to the morgue in a white hearse.

Some students talked and snapped pictures, and others just stared in disbelief.

Anna Humphries, 18, had tears in her eyes.

“This is terrible,” she said. “It makes you want to cry.”

But, it also made her think, she said.

Three years earlier, Humphries lost a friend in a drunk driving accident, and seeing the carnage unfold in front of her drove that point home.

“Why would anyone drink and drive?”

That is a question that police officers, who often find themselves at the scenes of similar accidents, want answered.

Killeen Police officer Eric Bradley said Shattered Dreams is an effective tool to help students become aware of the dangers associated with drinking and driving.

“We try to re-enact everything exactly the way we’d work a normal fatality,” Bradley said.

Meanwhile, Skylar Finkley, 18, stood with her friend Sequoria Brown less than 50 feet away from the carnage.

As her friend wept next to her, Finkley who was on the verge of tears, seemed to be in shock.

As she surveyed the scene in front of her, she recalled the accident that claimed a loved one only a year ago.

“It’s an awakening,” she said as she choked back tears.

Killeen High School Principal Mike Sibberson hopes it is more than an awakening, he hopes it is a lifesaver.

“You’ve got to make sure you make an impression on the kids,” Sibberson said.

The impression continued throughout the day with the Grim Reaper coming to a classroom every 15 minutes to remove a student, which is symbolic of the number of deaths caused by drinking and driving.

During the day, relatives of the mock dead and injured are notified.

The program continues through today with letters from those involved in the tragedy, songs of tribute and a funeral for those who were killed in the accident.

The Shattered Dreams program is presented every four years, usually before the school prom, to ensure all of the students in every grade level are exposed to the dangers of drinking and driving.

This year was Sibberson’s third time to be involved in the program.

He said Shattered Dream’s often casts a pall over the student body, but it is necessary to ensure student safety.

“If we do what we are supposed to do with this, the kids won’t take the chance,” Sibberson said. “This has a really profound impact on the kids.”