Wolmer's in shock over suspected student suicide
Published:Tuesday | April 26, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross
Acting principal at Wolmer's Boys' School, Grace Leyow, has described the incident in which a second-form student from the Heroes Circle institution reportedly committed suicide at his home Monday evening as a total shock.
Details surrounding the incident are unclear, but it has been reported that the student sent out a series of warning text messages to a friend before ending his life.
"The young man was in my office yesterday (Monday) with other boys who had not served a previous detention. He went and served it yesterday (Monday).
We had heard of a suicide note, but we do not know what is in it," Leyow told The Gleaner.
"Everybody is in shock. The boys who know him here, I spoke to some and they are saying he wasn't that kind of person. We still don't know all the circumstances. We are in as much shock as the father is. He was always jovial, so I don't know what to tell you," she stressed.
The boy is said to have located his father's licence firearm inside their home, around 9 o'clock Monday night, and used it to shoot himself. He later died at hospital. It has been confirmed that the father of the boy is a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Very confident
"He was a youngster who I found very intelligent, very confident. He did get a fair share of detentions and I had to talk to him about that, and sometimes he would come and tell me that he thought they were unfair. What I was struck by was that he was a small boy, but he was very confident and could look in your eye and speak with you." she said.
She continued: "I personally had no issues with him. I found him very respectful to me. I didn't see anything extraordinary about him in terms of a child that looked unhappy or depressed."
Leyow said that grief counsellors from the Ministry of Education would be visiting the school today and possibly throughout the rest of the week.