Colorado High School Student Sets Self On Fire In Alleged Suicide Attempt


UPDATE – A Colorado high school student is in critical condition after he set himself on fire in what police believe to have been a suicide attempt. The Inquisitr reported on the event earlier Monday stating that the 16-year-old student set himself on fire in the cafeteria of Standley Lake High School in Westminster, Colorado.

The fire reportedly broke out about 7:15 am, and was extinguished quickly with the help of staff that were in the building at the time. Spokeswoman Cheri Spottke of the Westminster Police Department said the teen had not made any statements before igniting himself. According to USA Today, Spottke said that “there is no indication there were any threats.”

The 16-year-old, whose name has not been released to the public, reportedly doused himself with oil before he set himself on fire. Spottke told reporters that she didn’t know how he started the actual fire. USA Today stated that the teen had actually made a post on social media about what his intentions were:

“This is not someone’s fault. I had this planned for years,” the teen wrote in a social-media post. He went on to mention that friends over the weekend tried to talk him out of the suicide attempt. “If anyone says that they know why I did this,… nobody knows and nobody will.”

ABC News stated that the fire was contained to the cafeteria and a custodian was able to extinguish the fire with the use of fire extinguisher. Several other students had been in the cafeteria at the time, but none of them have reported any injuries. The school was then closed down for the day. Jefferson County Public Schools spokeswoman Lynn Setzer told reporters that students without cars were taken to a nearby middle school, and from there, they were picked up by their parents.

After the students had been evacuated from the school, authorities went through the school with bomb-detection dogs, though no devices were discovered. Spottke said that the search was just precautionary. “Our focus now is making sure the kids are safe,” Spottke said.

Police have begun to talk to students, school faculty members and family members of the boy to see if they can figure out what happened to lead up to the 16-year-old to set himself on fire. Fire officials have told reporters that the boy burned more than 80 percent of his body during the alleged suicide attempt. The school has said that they have canceled classes for Tuesday.

[Image via Shutterstock/PARKHYEJUN]

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