A 14-year-old student committed suicide by hanging herself inside a California high school just an hour after running away from home.
Police in Olivehurst found the teen’s body on the second floor of Lindhurst High School after getting a call from a staff member. On March 30, around 6 a.m., she is thought to have gone missing from her nearby home. The teen’s identity is not being made public.
Yuba County Sheriff Wendell Anderson told reporters that the incident appears to be a suicide and that there is an active investigation going on. The Sheriff predicted that the death would likely shock the 15,000-person small community, which is situated about 40 miles north of Sacramento.
“Today is traumatic for the whole community,” Marysville Joint Unified School District Superintendent Fal Asrani said.
The tragic event forced the closure of the school for the day.
Suicide is the second most common cause of death in California for individuals between the ages of 10 and 34. For people aged 35 to 54, it is the fourth most common cause of death.