VINELAND, New Jersey (WPVI) — Two football communities in South Jersey are mourning the loss of a young boy and coach following a crash on Thursday evening.

It happened around 5:53 p.m. outside the Joseph E. Romano Sports Complex in Vineland.

Police say 31-year-old Addiel A. Ortiz, of Millville, was on a motorcycle traveling eastbound on Maple Avenue when he crashed into a Chevy Traverse.

Ortiz, and a 9-year-old boy inside the Traverse, who police identified as E.B., were both pronounced dead.

Lauren Beisler, who was driving the Traverse, was not injured, police said.

According to Cape-Atlantic Junior Football League, the crash claimed the life of a Vineland Blitz youth football coach and an Upper Township Youth Football player.

Action News has learned that the Vineland Blitz football team was hosting the Upper Township Indians on the night of the crash.

A GoFundMe page identified the boy as Easton Beisler. More than $70,000 has been raised since the fund was started on Friday.

“Our organization and community is grieving the loss of #23, a bright and talented peewee player who touched the hearts of everyone around him. It is with deep sadness that we announce the cancellation of all Upper Township games this weekend,” the Upper Township Indians shared in a statement with Action News.

Beisler was a 4th grader at Upper Township Primary School. Grief counselors were at the school Friday to assist students and staff.

“Our hearts are heavy as we remember a young life taken too soon, and our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with the family during this incredibly difficult time,” the district said in a statement.

Gandalf Sollenberger, who is on the Vineland Blitz board, told Action News Ortiz was a football coach of nearly five years while also working as a state correctional police officer.

Known to players as “Coach Addi,” he described Ortiz as loving father who enjoyed teaching kids on the gridiron in his spare time.

A GoFundMe created by Ortiz’s friend has raised more than $27,000.

“He served as a state correction police officer for over 10 years at Southern state Correctional Facility and Bayside State Prison. Addiel leaves behind his fiancé Destiny and 4 children,” read a description on the page.

Both football clubs have canceled sporting activities for the weekend as the towns continue to mourn this tragedy.

In August, the New Jersey Department of Treasury sent out confirmation letters to homeowners and tenants regarding the 2024 NJ Anchor Rebate benefit.

The ANCHOR (Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters) program is a state initiative designed to provide property tax relief to eligible New Jersey residents who own or rent property in the state.

Confirmation letters informed residents of an auto-enrolled status, payment payout details and instructions on how to update any neccesary changes by a set deadline.

NJ ANCHOR application guide: Everything you need to know

And that deadline is approaching.

Recipients who need to update their address, banking information or make a name change from the prior filing year must do so by Sept. 15, 2024, says the New Jersey Department of Treasury. If not, payments will be issued to the information on file.

Residents will need their ANCHOR ID and PIN provided on their benefit confirmation letter to make any changes . If you do not have that information, you will have to use the ID.me system for identity verification. 

As of Sept. 10, changes were made online to over 26,000 homeowners and 18,000 renters, Danielle Currie, of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, told Patch.com.

ANCHOR, which is in its third year, will provide property tax relief payments to homeowners and renters ranging between $500 and $1,750. This year’s ANCHOR benefit is based on residency, income and age from 2021.

Eligible residents who did not receive a confirmation letter can still apply for the NJ Anchor rebate online and have a Nov. 30, 2024, deadline.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A Jersey City man says he was shot by the Israeli military while protesting in the West Bank.

It happened near the town of Beita on Aug. 9.

IDF shot at protesters in West Bank, N.J. man says

Daniel Santiago, an activist with Faz3a Global, said the demonstration started peacefully with prayer and chanting, then the Israel Defense Forces became aggressive.

“There was teargas shot at us, live rounds. We hid behind a concrete wall when the live rounds happened,” he said.  

Santiago said his group ran when they got the chance, and they encountered some Palestinians. He said the shooting continued.

“When they picked me up, I saw that there was a hole in my leg and there was blood,” he said.

Santiago showed CBS News New York the exit wound of the bullet that pierced his thigh.

The IDF says troops used riot dispersal methods and fired into the air to break up a violent riot, but Santiago says the military was firing in their direction.

“It went straight through my thigh from the back all the way through the front. Unless bullets can go up and through, I would say that is false,” Santiago said.

American woman fatally shot while protesting in West Bank

Last Friday, Aysenur Eygi, another United States national, was in Beita to protest Israeli occupation in the West Bank with the International Solidarity Mission. Santiago says like him, she was also shot two days after arriving.

“It was 30 minutes after the protest ended, and she intentionally was away from any place that would be close to high risk,” Santiago said.

According to CBS News, the Israeli military confirmed the shooting. The IDF told CBS in a statement that troops “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.” The 26-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed.

“If something was done when I was shot, maybe she’d still be here,” Santiago said.

Santiago expresses his sympathies to the friends and family of his fellow American.

While his recovery could potentially take months, he says he knew there was a risk going to the West Bank, but wants these shootings investigated further.