This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

A second student from the Florida high school targeted in a mass shooting has died in little more than a week, police said on Sunday.

The boy was believed to be a survivor of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school on 14 February 2018 in which 17 people were killed and 17 wounded.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper quoted Tyler Reik, a spokesman for Coral Springs police, as saying that “out of respect for the family … we are not going to release the name. It’s a juvenile”.

Reik reportedly added: “I know he attended Stoneman Douglas. I can’t tell you if it’s related to the Parkland shooting. We don’t know the reasoning behind it. It’s still an ongoing investigation. It hasn’t even been confirmed as a suicide.”

The Miami Herald reported that a police source said the death was an “apparent suicide” and happened on Saturday night.

The boy’s death follows that of Sydney Aiello, 19, a survivor of the shooting who was given a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, last weekend. Her funeral was held on Friday.

On Sunday David Hogg, the Parkland pupil who became a prominent leader of the March for Our Lives movement for gun control reform, tweeted: “How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything? Rip 17+2.”</s>Miami - After a second Parkland shooting survivor died by suicide in a week's span, Florida's emergency chief is calling for the state Legislature to dispatch more mental health resources for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School community. On Saturday night, a Parkland sophomore took his own life, according to Coral Springs police. A week before, a former student whose best friend died in last year's massacre took her life.

"Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help," said Jared Moskowitz, Florida's emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland.

"Mental health is a bipartisan issue," he posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, local leaders are taking steps of their own.

On Sunday afternoon, more than 60 school, county, city, child services and law enforcement officials, as well as mental health specialists, teachers and parents, met for an emergency meeting.

Parents who attended the meeting said the Broward County School Superintendent's Office is working to reach every parent in the district via text, email, social media and robo calls.

"They will be asking parents to take this issue seriously," said Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty, a 14-year-old freshman who was one of 17 people murdered on February 14, 2018. "Parents cannot be afraid to ask their kids the tough questions."

Petty said the school district will be giving parents the "Columbia Protocol," a set of six questions to ask their children. Based on their answers, they will be given several emergency resource options. Several nonprofits are also dispatching therapy groups that will offer free services.

"During the spring break, I encourage you to take time to speak with your children every day. Dinners are a great time for family conversation," said Superintendent Robert Runcie. "We need to remove the stigma from talking about suicide."

Helen Aguirre Ferre, the communications director for Governor Ron DeSantis' press office, said the governor is aware of the reports of suicides and is monitoring the situation. DeSantis has established relationships with several parents who lost children in the shooting last year, and has had conversations with the families.

"He and the first lady are concerned," Ferre said.

But the situation is, for now, in the hands of local officials, she said, and there has been no request for the state to intervene.

Before the state activates emergency resources, local leaders would have to agree they need the help.

Last year, after 17 people were murdered in the February 14 shooting on the Stoneman Douglas campus, the state Legislature passed a gun-control and mental-health bill that restricted some sales of guns and accessories, gave the courts the ability to take guns away from people with mental health issues and set aside money to hire and train school faculty.

State Representative Shevrin Jones, of West Park, said he would "be the first person to co-sponsor something to deal with mental health in our schools and our communities."

Amid the new Parkland pain, Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the March For Our Lives, a student-led protest of the country's gun laws that drew hundreds of thousands of people to Washington and to other marches around the world.

The news of the two suicides comes just as students are out of school this coming week for spring break, worrying some that students may not get the help they need.

Investigators told the Miami Herald that the male student died in "an apparent suicide" on Saturday night. He was in 10th grade and attended Stoneman Douglas last year at the time of the February 14 shooting.

It isn't known whether his death can be linked to the school shooting, police said. They did not release his name.

The death follows the suicide of a recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate, Sydney Aiello, who took her life after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said Aiello died from a gunshot wound.

"How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything? Rip 17 + 2," former Stoneman Douglas student and gun-control activist David Hogg said Sunday on Twitter.</s>For the second time in a week, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has died in an apparent suicide.

The male sophomore died Saturday night, police in Coral Springs, FL, told the Miami Herald.

Authorities have not identified the deceased student, who attended Stoneman Douglas last year at the time of the shooting, but police said his death is being investigated as “an apparent suicide.”

Sydney Aiello, a recent Stoneman Douglas graduate, took her own life last weekend, her mother told WFOR.

Aiello was close friends with Meadow Pollack, one of the students murdered in the mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, which claimed the lives of 17 people – 14 students and three staff members.

Aiello’s mother told WFOR her daughter was suffering from survivor’s guilt and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being on campus the day of the shooting.

She was a student at Florida Atlantic University at the time of her death. Her funeral was held Friday, according to CNN.

Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland, said, “Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help.”

County, city, school, child services and law enforcement officials – and mental health specialists, teachers and parents – met Sunday afternoon to discuss steps to address the mental health of Parkland students, the Miami Herald reports.

Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie told the Miami Herald that school officials are working out "the details of what we will provide in the coming weeks, above and beyond what is already being provided.”</s>PARKLAND,Florida: A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida has died in "an apparent suicide," police said on Sunday (Mar 24), less than a week after a 19-year-old survivor of the 2018 massacre at the school took her own life.

The student's death occurred on Saturday evening and is under investigation, said Coral Springs Police spokesman Tyler Reik. The student's name, age and gender were not disclosed, he said.

“We’re calling it an apparent suicide because we don’t have the exact results back from the medical examiner’s office,” Reik said by phone.

The Miami Herald reported that the suicide victim was a male sophomore who attend the Parkland, Florida, school when 14 other students and three staff members were killed on Feb 14, 2018, in the deadliest-ever US high school shooting.

A week ago, former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Sydney Aiello took her own life, according to her family. Aiello, who survived the 2018 shooting, was suffering from survivor's guilt and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, her mother told CBS Miami.

Aiello was a senior at Stoneman Douglas when a former student with a semi-automatic rifle shot dead her friend Meadow Pollack, the family said.

The deaths drew calls in Florida for increased spending on mental health services for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School community and other schools.

"Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help," Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland, posted on Twitter.

David Hogg, who survived the 2018 shooting and became a gun control advocate, said schools needed serious mental health funding and proper guidance counselors.

"How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government/school district to do anything?" he tweeted.</s>CORAL SPRINGS, Florida – Coral Springs police say a second Parkland shooting survivor has taken his life.

Investigators told the Miami Herald that a current Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student died “in an apparent suicide” Saturday night.

This follows the death of Sydney Aiello.

The 19-year-old’s mother says Aiello struggled with “survivor’s guilt” and had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Former student Nikolas Cruz confessed to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 14 students and 3 teachers.</s>By Lisa Powers

 Special to the Rappahannock News

Current statistics state that approximately one-fifth of teens and young adults have a mental health condition. Half of mental health issues develop by age 14 and three-fourths by age 24.

The average length of time between the onset of symptoms for a mental health condition and actually receiving treatment is 10 years. In any given year, only twenty percent of children with a diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder receive treatment.

Almost one-third of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder during his or her lifetime. How can we help?

On Saturday, March 16, Hearthstone School hosted a free Youth Mental Health First Aid class. The program teaches trainees how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. It instructs participants in how to best respond to someone who may be developing a mental health problem or is in crisis. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse and other mental health concerns affecting youth were addressed.

Jane Mullan, Hearthstone’s director said, “We’re so happy that we could offer this program. Over the years, we’ve seen many young people in the area struggling with mental health issues. We wanted to help.”

The 8-hour class was presented by Terri Pennington and Renee Norden on behalf of the Mental Health Association of Fauquier County.

Pennington, who works for the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, chose to become an instructor because, “I was searching for information about how to help family and friends with mental health concerns when I didn’t think I wanted law enforcement involved, or when hospitalization was not the necessary goal.”

Norden, Director of Guidance at Highland School in Warrenton added, “I was immediately excited about Youth Mental Health First Aid because it just made sense. We educate community members about first aid to deal with physical injuries, but we did nothing to equip our community for mental health concerns. YMHFA gives caring adults skills to help our young people through their challenges.”

Twenty-five participants, mostly educators from Rappahannock, Fauquier and Culpeper counties, attended.

Norden opened the class by asking participants to share a memory from their own middle school/high school days. While many of the recollections were positive, a number of people recounted incidents of being discouraged or humiliated by others. The exercise served as a reminder of how challenging adolescence can be.

The presenters gave a lively program, using a variety of interactive activities as well as film and PowerPoint slides.

In discussing typical adolescent development, Norden had the class form small groups and make drawings of physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual adolescent development. The pictures expressed the confusion, questions, and the ups and downs of this time of life. Puberty changes and the shift from involvement with family to greater peer interaction were noted. Norden stressed that adolescents are experiencing many things for the first time, hence the heightened intensity of these experiences.

While normal adolescence can involve many struggles, the instructors stressed that a mental health issue may be present if something impacts the person’s ability to live, laugh, love or learn.

At intervals, the presenters gave the groups different scenarios that young people might face, and had the trainees decide how they would implement ALGEE:

— Assess for risk of suicide or harm

The first scenarios described normal teen problems. As the program progressed, the scenarios became more serious, requiring outside help or intervention.

Pennington emphasized the importance of assessing the person’s physical state first. Some symptoms of a mental health issue, such as disordered thinking or disorientation, can have a physical cause. For example, what looks like a panic attack could be a heart attack.

Both Norden and Pennington stressed that ninety percent of all mental health concerns are treatable, and that treatment for the remaining ten percent can still improve the person’s life.

The Mental Health Association of Fauquier County administers Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid classes in Fauquier and Rappahannock counties. For information on upcoming programs, please contact Brittany Dwyer, Community Outreach Coordinator, at bdwyer@mhafc1.org.</s>Crosses are seen in a park to commemorate the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland - REUTERS

Two teenagers who survived America's deadliest high school shooting have committed suicide in the last week, bringing fresh tragedy to the Florida community.

A 17-year-old boy who attended the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - where 17 people were killed last year - died on Saturday in what police are treating as a suicide.

The boy, who has not been named, was in his second year of high school and reportedly died from a gun shot wound to the head.

It comes just days after Sydney Aiello, a 19-year-old recent graduate of the school, took her own life. Ms Aiello's family said the teenager had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from survivor’s guilt after the shooting, in which one of her best friends, Meadow Pollack, was shot dead.

Former student Nikolas Cruz entered the high school armed with a semi-automatic rifle on February 14, 2018 and left 14 students and three staff members dead, with 17 others wounded.

Sydney, who was not in the room during the shooting, went on to study at Florida Atlantic University but struggled to attend classes because she was afraid of being in a classroom.

Meadow's father Andrew Pollack, who has since become a gun reform activist, told the Miami Herald "Meadow and Sydney were friends for a long, long time".

"It’s terrible what happened," he said. "Killing yourself is not the answer".

The fresh tragedy has drawn calls in Florida for increased spending on suicide prevention programmes and more mental health services for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school community.

More than 60 local school, child services and law enforcement officials met with teachers and parents for an emergency meeting on Sunday.

"Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help," said Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland.

Another survivor, David Hogg, who has become a prominent gun control advocate since the massacre, added his voice to calls.

"How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government/school district to do anything?" he tweeted.

The city's mayor Christine Hunschofsky said Monday that officials are publicising the available counseling services.

In a separate development, the father of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre died of an apparent suicide on Monday.

Jeremy Richman's body was found in his Connecticut office building Monday morning, Newtown police said.

Mr Richman, 49, had dedicated his time to helping prevent mass shootings after his daughter Avielle was among 20 children and six adults killed in the elementary school in 2012.

Police said they will not disclose the method or any other details surrounding Mr Richman's death but said that it does not appear to be suspicious.</s>PARKLAND, Florida – A second Parkland shooting survivor has died from self-inflicted causes, according to the Miami Herald.

Investigators told the newspaper that a current Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night.

The name and age of the student has not been released.

The news comes about a week after recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate, Sydney Aiello, took her own life.

Aiello, 19, was close friends with Meadow Pollack, one of the 17 students killed when a gunman opened fire inside the Parkland, Florida school last year, WFOR in Miami reported.

Aiello’s mother said her daughter suffered with “survivor’s guilt” and had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.</s>Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has launched two new videos about the mental health challenges of settling into a new country.

The agency partnered with more than 10 community groups, and received feedback from the community, to create the videos aimed at newcomers and Ottawa's culturally diverse population.

"Historically these are groups of people who don't usually access mental services ... or mental health information because the content doesn't resonate with them," said Hodan Aden, a public health nurse with the mental health team at OPH.
• There isn't a word for depression: immigrants and mental health

She said targeting newcomers is critical because they're an increasing population that may not be connected to important mental health resources.

"One in four residents are of immigrant background or are foreign born ... [and] if we look at immigrants, and children of immigrants, that number goes up to 44 per cent," she said.

Hindia Mohamoud, executive director of Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership, said the videos play a critical role in countering the shame that surrounds mental health that dissuades newcomers from seeking help.
• 'The unspoken ones': How race and culture complicate Asian-Canadians' access to mental health care

"In immigrant communities there's a high stigma attached to [mental health issues] and so it's difficult to detect it," she said.

"It is important that families talk about it and that young people, for example, are supported if they have these challenges, anxieties, or stresses in life."

Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, said there's evidence the mental and physical health of immigrants declines the longer they are in Canada. 



 "Settling into a new country, adapting to a new culture, dealing with underemployment and discrimination are just few factors that increase their risk of developing poor mental health," said Etches in a release.



 Aden said OPH will also be holding workshops in the spring, and in June, to inform people about the videos and to help connect them with mental health resources in the city.



 "This is our first attempt of trying to make sure that we have equitable information for diverse populations," she said.</s>Another student who survived the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last year has reportedly taken his own life, according to police.

The Miami Herald reported that the male student, who was in tenth grade and attended Stoneman Douglas last year, died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night. The news came just days after the family of another Parkland survivor, Sydney Aiello, confirmed that she died by suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt.

“As of now it’s an apparent suicide,” Coral Springs police spokesman Tyler Reik told People. “We are conducting an investigation and the cause of death hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.”

Police did not release the second student’s name, and told the Herald that it is not known whether or not his death can be linked to the school shooting.

According to the Herald, more than 60 school, county, city, child services, and law enforcement officials, as well as mental health specialists, teachers, and parents, met for an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss taking action to address mental health issues.

“They will be asking parents to take this issue seriously,” said Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty, a 14-year-old freshman who was one of 17 people killed in the Parkland shooting. “Parents cannot be afraid to ask their kids the tough questions.”

Petty said the school district will be instructing parents in the “Columbia Protocol,” a set of six questions to ask children to determine the need for emergency resources. The Herald reported that several nonprofits are also dispatching therapy groups that will offer free services.

“During the spring break, I encourage you to take time to speak with your children every day. Dinners are a great time for family conversation,” superintendent Robert Runcie told parents. “We need to remove the stigma from talking about suicide.”

On Sunday morning, Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg tweeted calling for action from the government and school district in the wake of the news.

“Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help,” Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland, tweeted on Sunday. “Mental health is a bipartisan issue.”

In the U.S., the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.
More than 60 school, county, city, child services and law enforcement officials, as well as mental health specialists, teachers and parents, hold an emergency meeting after the suicide of a second Stoneman Douglas survivor. Florida's emergency chief is requesting the state Legislature provide more mental health resources for the community. Coral Springs, Florida, police reported that, Saturday night, a current sophomore killed himself. Last week, Sydney Aiello, a 19-year-old graduate who had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, took her own life.