Student dead after suicide attempt

10:51 AM CST on Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Associated Press

RIVER RIDGE -- The 13-year-old student who shot himself Monday at a private school in Jefferson Parish has died.




Video: Watch the Story The shooting happened minutes before the start of classes Monday at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge.


J.T. Curtis, acting headmaster, says the shooting occurred near the gym.


The boy was identified as Joseph Lynn. His mother asked that his name be released so the public could pray for him. Lynn had been on life-support since surgery at Ochsner Medical Center.


Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Norman says Lynn was pronounced dead Tuesday at 8:10 a.m.


There are no metal detectors at the school, which has 450 to 500 students. Curtis says there have been no other problems involving guns, and no other students were in danger.


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl1106....1e3c42780.html

Jane,

It's extremely helpful to add a personal observation or two about the posted article in order to give any discussion regarding it some direction. What are your thoughts?

MM

I think it's about the saddest thing I've seen...there have been 3 suicides of children in the last few weeks..what can possibly make a child so hopeless

It is very sad. I can't comprehend either what could get a child to want to die. IT really makes me wonder about our world.

3 cases you've heard of. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were many more. 13 is easily old enough to start experiencing depression, in my completely uneducated opinion.

And does it still count as a suicide attempt if he actually kicked the bucket? Silly AP.

A thirteen year old boy, who had his whole life ahead of him....Teenage years are tough, but I can't imagine what this child could have been thinking to end his life like this....or to have signs of depression and was ignored...So sad....

How the hell did this kid smuggle a gun into school? Why don't you gun happy Americans try and make it a little more difficult for a 13yr old to get their hands on one?

Let's face it, if this kid was in a state of mind to shoot himself in school, then it must have been a borderline decision as to whether he took other students with him.

How many school shootings will it take before Bronco Bush & co decide that's enough?

That poor child.

That's awful. Although sadly enough it doesn't surprise me. I thought about suicide around that age. It was severe depression/anxiety combined with the fact that I had to face being bullied and tormented on a daily basis in school...made me feel completely hopeless. He might have been suffering from depression and either hid the signs or the people in his life didn't take him seriously enough.

Why? Maybe he was trying to go on but had the gun in case the world got to much and he couldn't wait till he got home.

Considering you know as much about this as me, which is to be fair sweet **** all, it seem unfair to suggest he was sick enough to kill his class mates when he could have just as easily been hopelessly depressed.

I agree though with what you said about guns, when i was 13 i hadn't even seen a real gun let alone know where to get my hands on one.

It wouldn't be the first time that it's happened would it? All I'm saying is that it's a tremendous risk to have a student smuggle a gun into school in that state of mind. It doesn't have to be intentional. A friend/teacher may have spotted him, tried to wrestle the gun away, and bang.

And he may not have been troubled enough to want to kill his class mates but was certainly selfish enough to know that it could be his best friend that discovers his body.

The reality that the magic is all but over after your teenage years

As a family member of a suicide victim, there are NEVER enough answers

Yeah, true. Good point.

The child may have stolen that pistol, or taken it from his own home. How do you legislate against these instances? There are already ample laws on the books regarding theft, possession of a handgun by anyone under 21 and so on.
Gun control laws don't work. Never have. The cities with the most stringent gun control have the highest crime rates.
This tragedy apparently occurred in Louisiana, where hunting and marksmanship have been part of the culture for hundreds of years.
The teen years are always tough. Much of the stress comes from other students, who gather in cliques and make life miserable for others who don't fit in.
The proliferation of violent music (chiefly rap, hip-hop and heavy metal) glorifies violence, brainwashes young people into believing that violence and abusing others is cool and makes you respectable.

It is a great tragedy. I've lost one friend to suicide and, as somone noted earlier, there are many questions that are never answered.

"Bronco Bush?" You're trying to place the blame for this on the President? What a reach!