Colorado community seeks answers after two student suicides in two days, both following social media posts
In the twilight, they pointed the lights of their cellphones toward the students in the center of the circle. They numbered in the hundreds, gathered in a grassy park on a school night through the power of Snapchat.
They’ve done this at least twice before when they lost friends to suicide, but this time the loss in Littleton was double: two teen suicides in two days. Sitting on the grass as night fell, they took turns rushing to the center to remember their friends, to hug and cry, to shout and swear, and to plead for no more deaths.
On Tuesday night, an Arapahoe High School junior took his own life by jumping off a mall parking garage, and on Wednesday night, another Littleton School District student, an eighth-grader at Powell Middle School, shot himself on the grounds of nearby Twain Elementary School. Both boys posted on social media just before their deaths, panicking friends who tried to help but could not save them.
Students gather at Arapaho Park in Centennial Thursday night, Aug. 31, 2017. Two young students from Littleton Public Schools took their own lives over a two-day period. Photo by Larry Ryckman, The Denver Post
Students gather at Arapaho Park in Centennial Thursday night, Aug. 31, 2017. Two young students from Littleton Public Schools took their own lives over a two-day period. Photo by Larry Ryckman, The Denver Post