[chris]

A lightning strike killed Scott Wilcox, 41, and critically injured Zac Latawiec, 14, as three Lehigh Acres visitors walked along Fort Myers Beach, Florida, during a fast-moving storm on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, authorities said.

The strike came shortly after 2:10 p.m. near Beach Access 33 in the 1600 block of Estero Boulevard, a short distance from the Lani Kai Island Resort, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call brought fire and sheriff's crews to the beach as bystanders tried to help.

Wilcox was pronounced dead at the scene. Latawiec was unconscious when paramedics arrived and was still listed in critical condition a week later, on July 29. Chelsea Gill, 16, remained conscious and was talking after the strike, and was later released from the hospital.

John Heim, who works on the beachfront, said the storm seemed to come from every direction at once. "It came in from the north, the south, the west and the east," he said. "It looked like three systems converged on us at one time." Heim said he found all three victims lying face down in the sand near the water's edge, with a personal watercraft rental employee already performing CPR before rescue crews reached them.

Weather trackers recorded roughly 47 lightning strikes in the area within a 15-minute span as the storm passed over the beach. Deputies and rescue workers held back in their vehicles for a stretch because of the storm's intensity before moving in, according to local officials.

The strike prompted Fort Myers Beach town officials to take a fresh look at installing a lightning warning system for the public beach. Vice Mayor Dan Andre said the town would consider the idea "a little more seriously," after an earlier proposal for base stations and warning horns had been estimated at about $99,000. Wilcox's death was among at least 15 lightning fatalities recorded nationwide in 2014, and the sixth in Florida that year, news reports at the time noted.