Nearly 600 absent Hoover High School students left classrooms empty Friday when about 20 percent of the high school's student body, grades nine through 12, failed to show up following suicide letters found in restrooms earlier in the week, according to the Times Daily.
Suicide letters were left in restrooms at the Hoover, Ala., high school Monday. While no threats were made to students, parents weren't taking any chances and kept their kids at home. The letters appeared from a depressed student threatening to commit suicide on school grounds Friday. The letters appeared in all three levels of the school in the boys restrooms, said Capt. Gregg Rector.
Police identified the person who wrote the letter Thursday, who confessed to leaving behind the suicide notes, The New York Times reported.
"We believe this student likely acted alone and it's not appropriate at this time to judge his actions or behavior,'' Rector said. "Our primary focus at this point, along with school officials, is to guide this young man and his family towards appropriate resources."
"Certainly many parents chose to keep students home because of the note found earlier this week - and we respect those decisions made by parents,'' school spokesman Jason Gaston said, according to AL. "We are so fortunate that a resolution was reached yesterday as a direct result of excellent investigative work on the part of the Hoover Police Department and Hoover H.S. Principal Don Hulin and his administrative team."
"This situation has been resolved and everyone's routine should be back to normal today. We've identified the person responsible and he's being dealt with appropriately,'' Rector said. "We certainly understand, though, that this has been a stressful week for students, parents and school employees."
"The sad reality is that we live in uncertain times and occasionally we're faced with events beyond our control," Rector went on to say. "We prevent what we can, and when situations occur we confront those issues and deal with them as best we know how. It's time to put this one behind us and move on."
