Teen killed in Oceanside bicycle accident was popular, gregarious, mom recalls

Dylan Schuster could find a friend wherever he went.

Out at restaurants, shopping centers and throughout his Oceanside neighborhood, the gregarious ninth grader seemed to attract other kids looking to chat with him about school, music or taekwondo. 

"That's just the way Dylan was," said his mother, Joanna Schuster. "Everywhere we went people would come up to us. Everybody loved Dylan."

On Sunday, Dylan, 14, was killed while riding his bike in Oceanside after he was struck by an SUV heading west on Daly Boulevard in the vicinity of Long Beach Road, Nassau police said.

The Oceanside High School freshman suffered "multiple injuries" when he was hit shortly after 5 p.m. by a Chevrolet Equinox, officials said. Dylan, said his mother, was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

Dylan's father, Andrew Schuster, a volunteer at the Oceanside Fire Department, was among the first responders to the accident site where he discovered his son, Joanna Schuster said.

The driver remained at the scene and was not charged, police said. The accident is not considered criminal, officials said.

Joanna Schuster, a preschool teacher in Rockville Centre, remembered her son as a sweet, talented and outgoing young man who loved cooking, fast food and trains and dreamed of being a car salesman. 

"He was amazing and so loved," she said in an interview Monday. "We will miss him and don’t know how we are going to get through this. It’s a horrific nightmare."

Joanna Schuster has created a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of Dylan's funeral services, which are being held Tuesday in Oceanside. 

As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the page had raised in excess of $16,000 for the family from more than 350 donors. 

Dylan was a teen of many talents, his mother said. He recently obtained his black belt in taekwondo, was a talented drummer and recently developed a knack for cooking, using an air fryer. His specialties, Schuster said, were chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies. 

The teen also loved playing with slime, eating KFC and McDonalds and the recent animated movie "The Secret Life of Pets 2."

"We watched that movie so many times," his mother said. "And if I could I would watch it 100 more if I could bring him back."

On Sunday, with temperatures in the mid-60s, Dylan took his bike out for a ride but ventured further than he was allowed, Schuster said. When he did not immediately return home his mother began calling, texting and sending messages on FaceTime. But the anxious mother got no response.

When the Oceanside Fire Department was asked to respond to a serious pedestrian accident, the Schusters became worried.

"I told Andrew: 'It just can't be him,'" Joanna Schuster said,  before he arrived at the scene.

Schuster's daughter, Carly, 18, a senior at Oceanside High School, drove her mother to Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside where they waited for news. Dylan, she said, briefly regained a pulse but never fully recovered and was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

"The doctors told us they worked on him for a long time," Schuster said.

Phyllis Harrington, superintendent of Oceanside School District, said grief counseling and support services are in place for students and staff.

"Our Oceanside High School administrators and faculty met early this morning to put resources in place for grieving students and staff," Harrington said in a statement. "On behalf of our entire school district, we extend our deepest sympathy to Dylan's family."   

The accident is the second death of an Oceanside High School student in the past four months.

In September, Khaseen Morris, 16, was killed after he was stabbed in the heart during an after-school brawl at an Oceanside strip mall. Prosecutors have charged eight Long Beach teenagers for their role in the assault, including Tyler Flach, 19, who authorities said fatally stabbed Morris during the fight.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.