Gaines, who sustained multiple skull fractures, remains on life support Wednesday and there is nothing new to report, according to Gavilan College Athletic Director Ron Hannon.
Heard suffered major injuries including a broken jaw but his condition is more stable and he may move out of the Intensive Care Unit today, Hannon said.
On Sunday around 1:30 a.m. Gaines, Heard - who was driving the black Cadillac - Johnson and two female passengers left a club in San Francisco on southbound U.S. 101 when Heard reportedly swerved to avoid a tire in the road, hit a median and spun out, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The Cadillac came to rest facing the wrong direction on the highway and a Nissan 300ZX slammed head-on into their car, according to Hannon who spoke with Johnson about the accident Sunday.
Police arrested Heard at the scene for suspicion of driving under the influence before he was released to San Francisco General Hospital, said Tony Tam, the California Highway Patrol's public information officer for the San Francisco area. Pending an investigation, Heard could face felony DUI charges, Tam said.
Hannon said at this time he has not been given permission from the families or doctors to release the results of the toxicology report, but he and other sources have heard that the results for Heard came back negative.
The Gavilan men's basketball team held a shoot-around last night, which Johnson attended on crutches, Hannon said.
"Obviously he has mixed emotions, but it was good to get him home," Hannon said Wednesday.
The Rams were scheduled to begin the season at the Las Positas Tournament in Livermore on Thursday but have since decided to pull out of that event..
Since the accident, a cascade of support - in the form of tweets - has surfaced on Twitter for Gaines; just search the hashtag "#PrayForAndrel." It's been tweeted and retweeted thousands of times since Monday and was the most tweeted phrase in the San Francisco area Tuesday. Supporters have tweeted to celebrities to garner more prayers and outreach, such as Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah, Lamar Odom, Dr. Phil, Governor Jerry Brown and other public figures each with several million followers.
Gaines' father said that the family appreciates the community's support, love and prayers. He asks that "you keep the prayers coming" and that he's amazed by the outpouring for their son, said a family friend.
A fund for Gaines and his family has been created on the website wepay.com to raise money for medical costs, the description says. Here is the link.
Greg Hamik, a 2010 graduate and former guard on the Gilroy High School boys basketball team, was Gaines teammate and friend since elementary school.
"He always had a positive attitude. He never got down even when things didn't go his way. He would laugh at everything you said, even if it wasn't funny. That's what I miss, I miss his laugh right now. I love him. I miss his smile right now. He was always happy-go-lucky," Hamik said by phone Monday afternoon; he's currently studying at Miramar College in San Diego.
Hamik was helping Gaines get into shape this summer so he could be ready for his first year at Gavilan after taking a year off from basketball.
"We were working out two or three times a week, getting him ready to play. I wish he could have gotten to play his first collegiate basketball game," Hamik said.
Gaines transferred to Gilroy High his junior year from Silver Creek High School in San Jose, but he did go to elementary school at Gilroy Unified School District. Gaines, a point guard, was an all-league selection for the Tri-County Athletic League his senior year at GHS.
More than 5,000 people have joined a Facebook "prayer chain" that has been created in Gaines' honor that asks the community to pray for his recovery.
Gaines' Facebook page has been flooded with words of encouragement, prayers and Bible verses since the accident Sunday morning. A friend, Dalton James Campbell, posted this to Facebook Monday: "I'm just sitting here looking over all the status and tweets about Andrel and it's shocking. All of Gilroy is praying for you Andrel, you got this. And to the Gaines family, understand the impact and the happiness Andrel created for all these people. Stay strong everyone, keep on praying."
His former basketball coach at GHS, Jeremy Dirks emailed a message Monday afternoon. He was too emotional to talk by phone.
"Andrel was a great young man that got good grades, was caring and worked hard on and off the court. I was blessed with a great group of young men my two years as the head coach and Andrel was one of the nicest. Andrel was a good basketball player and an even better person. It's so hard to see young people in their prime leave us so early. I loved all those boys like my own and this is very difficult," Dirks said.
Heard, who is originally from Los Angeles, has serious injuries including several broken bones and a broken jaw, but is conscious as of Sunday evening, according to Hannon, who said "he recognized who I was. The nurse asked him to move his toes, which he did."
Johnson, who hails from Seaside, has a compound fracture in his lower leg and is being treated at Stanford Medical Center. Two other occupants in the Cadillac - Denise Bravo, 18, of San Juan Bautista and Razelyn Ambrocio, 21, of Santa Cruz - were hospitalized with minor injuries, according to the CHP. It's unknown if Bravo or Ambrocio are Gavilan students.
The case will be submitted to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, pending results of chemical tests for drugs and alcohol, which could take several days, Tam said.
An initial investigative report lists Heard as a pedestrian, meaning he may have stepped out of the vehicle before the second car - a red Nissan 300ZX driven by Dennis Leffew, of San Jose - slammed into the Cadillac, Tam said. Leffew was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and suffered major injuries and was taken to Stanford Medical Center, according to Tam.
"For whatever reason, at this point, officers are putting him as a pedestrian," Tam said. "Clearly they must have some information from witnesses that he's out of the vehicle."
The family and friends of Gaines are planning to gather Monday evening to pray and grieve. An impromptu vigil was held Monday at 1 p.m. in the Gavilan College gymnasium on the Gilroy campus where about 35 staff, student-athletes and counselors gathered, said Kevin Kramer, the head coach of the women's volleyball team Monday afternoon. Kramer said a female student sang "Amazing Grace" while other attendees hummed along; she had to pause as she wept, he said.
Gavilan's director of public information Jan Bernstein Chargin sent an email to the Gavilan community Monday morning, saying "I am writing to confirm what some of you have already heard: three Gavilan College basketball players were injured in an automobile accident this weekend, two of them seriously. Our thoughts are with the players, their families, their teammates, and all others involved."
Hannon spoke with Johnson Sunday morning who described the accident. He said they watched the on-coming vehicle barrel toward their car.
"They're really responsible, with their heads on straight. I'd be really caught off-guard if our guys were involved in (drinking and driving)," Hannon said.
The accident report was not complete as of Monday, according to Officer Tam. The CHP attempts to conclude accident investigations within eight business days, Tam said. If one of the occupants dies, however, it could take substantially longer.
"I've seen fatal reports take two to three months to complete," he said.
If Gaines dies, the window for manslaughter charges will open, Tam said.
"The key there is: Who caused the death to the victim?" he said. "In the single collision, it's pretty clear the driver was at fault. But with that second car, you now have two collisions, and that complicates things." As it stands now, both Heard and Leffew could face felony DUI charges.
"Clearly there is going to be limited information for the investigating officer, but they have to make determination based on what they have," Tam said. "I doubt this guy with major injuries was doing a field sobriety test."
He added, "It all depends on their condition. The way it sounds from the log, these guys were pretty messed up."
Sports editor Josh Weaver, crime reporter Mark Powell and city editor Lindsay Weaver contributed to this story.
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