A college student’s parents died and his siblings injured in a highway crash in North Carolina during a trip to drop him off at school.

Noah Nunney, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was waiting on campus to reunite with his family when he received word of a serious car accident nearby. 

“When I arrived to the scene, I thought all four were gone,” Nunney told PEOPLE. “They wouldn’t let me out of the car, and the way that they sat me down and the look on the officer’s face was truly horrifying.”

The accident occurred on Friday, Aug. 15, around 1:18 p.m., as Nunney’s family members left their hotel to meet him for lunch. 

Donald and Maria Nunney, longtime teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, were killed in a car crash while dropping their son off at school in North Carolina. (Maria Galindo-Nunney Facebook)

As the family grieves, the community is rallying around them. Nunney’s parents were beloved, longtime teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. 

Shari Obrenski, the president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, told WOIO that the school community is reeling.

“They were just incredible teachers, loving and attentive and committed parents. They were active in the community. Their loss has hit everyone so hard that it is unimaginable for their family and their children. So shocking and heartbreaking and just devastating,” Obrenski told the outlet. 

Within hours of the crash, members of the Morehead-Cain scholarship program, UNC staff and relatives had gathered to offer help.

A GoFundMe campaign to assist the family has raised over $350,000.

The organizers praised Maria and Donald as “amazing and devoted parents,” emphasizing their strong commitment both to their family and their roles as educators.

“Maria and Donald leave behind a legacy of community, family, and love, all rooted in the devotion they had for their children and their family,” a post on the fundraising page read.

The crash took place shortly before the start of the academic year at UNC, which began on Monday, Aug. 18.

While Nunney plans to take the fall semester off to care for his siblings, he’s determined to finish his degree.

“I know that’s what my parents would’ve wanted,” he said. 

Reflecting on their final moments together, Nunney shared what it meant to have his parents drop him off last year for his freshman year of college.

“It was the first time they saw me as an adult,” he recalled. “They saw me, truthfully, as more of a man than just their kid, and I felt like that was something that will always stick with me.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the school district and teachers’ union for comment. 

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides, and migrant crime. Story tips: stepheny.price@fox.com.