North Dakota Freshman Attempts Suicide In Front Of Class

A high school freshman shot himself in the head Thursday morning in front of a teacher and seven other students at Fairmount Public School in the small town of Fairmount, North Dakota.

CNN reports that the boy, who was not known to be in any kind of trouble, walked to the front of his classroom around 8:30 am, apologized, and shot himself in the head. The teacher performed first aid, and the other students were taken to the school library. The injured boy was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center, and his condition was not known. Sheriff Larry Leshovsky said he did not know the nature of or reason for the boy’s apology. The boy’s name has not been released.

According to ABC Affiliate KSFY, the boy reportedly said he didn’t want to hurt anyone else.The KSFY report also did not report the student’s condition, but it did report that he was coherent at some point after the shooting. Officials didn’t comment on a motive for the suicide attempt, but they did not think the boy had been bullied.

Parents were alerted of the school shooting via automated system, and the school was on lock down for a time. Students were allowed to leave early Thursday, and school will resume tomorrow with counselors on hand. Fairmount Public School is a small school with less than 120 students in grades K-12.

“This has never happened here before,” Principal Jeff Townsend told CNN. “This kind of situation is very rare and new to North Dakota, the community, our school, and the students.”

CBS reports that the southeastern North Dakota community where the freshmen student shot himself in front of his classmates has a population of about 370 people.

The incident was the second instance of a student attempting to take their own life at school in less than a month. An eighth grade Oklahoma student at Stillwater Junior High shot and killed himself before morning classes began on September 26.