Lake Mary Student Takes Own Life in School Auditorium
The 17-year-old female student asked to leave class, went to Lake Mary High School’s auditorium and shot herself.
Officials believe the student chose the secluded auditorium so no one would witness the shooting.
A student at Lake Mary High School in Seminole County, Fla., died by suicide Wednesday morning.
After excusing herself from class, the 17-year-old found an isolated area in the school’s auditorium and shot herself, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said, according to CBS News.
A gunshot was heard in the building around 8 a.m., just before the end of first period. Two school resource officers and the school nurse responded to the scene within a minute of hearing the gunshot and tried to revive her, but were unsuccessful, Lemma said.
He does not believe any other students witnessed the shooting.
“It appears she went out of her way to do it in an area where nobody else was at,” he said.
Following the gunshot, the school was put on lockdown and the school community was notified of the situation over the PA system. The school was determined to be safe with no active threat.
Parents were also notified by an automated voicemail and were allowed to pick up their children after the lockdown was lifted. The student’s family has also been notified.
The Seminole County Sheriff’s office is investigating who the gun belonged to and how the girl acquired it.
Lake Mary officials announced classes will be canceled on Thursday, but grief counselors will be available to help students struggling with depression or mental issues.
“Let’s do what we can to make sure we’re talking about this,” Lemma said. “Let’s not turn a blind eye to it and prevent situations like this from ever happening again.”
This is the second student suicide on campus in Central Florida in the past year and a half. In November 2017, a student shot himself at Lake Minneola High School.
According to this study, the number of kids and teen hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or attempts more than doubled from 2008 to 2015.
Warning Signs of Suicide
- Talking about wanting to die
- Looking for a way to kill oneself
- Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose
- Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
- Talking about being a burden to others
- Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
- Acting anxious, agitated or recklessly
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Withdrawing or feeling isolated
- Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
- Displaying extreme mood swings
The more of these signs a person shows, the greater the risk. Warning signs are associated with suicide but may not be what causes a suicide.
What to Do
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide:
- Do not leave the person alone
- Remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt
- Call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255)
- Take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional
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About the Author
Katie Malafronte, Web Editor
Katie Malafronte is Campus Safety's Web Editor. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Writing & Rhetoric. Katie has been CS's Web Editor since 2018.
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These are not all the signs of suicide. If someone is suicidal, they may not want anyone to know about it. They may act completely normal. One thing that may be noticed is that they will be more private, may seem to care a little bit less about a conversation, but many times, it’s the ones that you least expect that take their own life.
This article violates a number of the evidence-based best practices for reporting on suicide and should be updated. https://afsp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/recommendations.pdf
Please take the suicide method out of the headline ASAP. Consider taking mentions of the suicide method out of the article completely. Do the benefits of including it outweigh the real risk of suicide contagion?
“Risk of additional suicides increases when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/graphic headlines…”
“More than 50 research studies worldwide have found that certain types of news coverage can increase the likelihood of suicide in vulnerable individuals … Covering suicide carefully, even briefl y, can change public misperceptions and correct myths, which can encourage those who are vulnerable or at risk to seek help.”
Thank you, Jo. We have been reading up on the research as well and updated the article.