A high school in Tempe, Ariz., is mourning the loss of a student who committed suicide on campus on Tuesday, KPHO reports. Marcus Wheeler, an 18-year-old senior who ran cross-country and track for Corona del Sol High School, tweeted that there would be a “suicide in the school right now” before taking his own life, the news station notes.
According to the report, administrators had alerted the school resource officer about an individual with a firearm in a breezeway near the gym around 8:50 a.m. Additional officers were called in as the school was placed in lockdown. The school resource officer found Wheeler and attempted to talk him into dropping the weapon, but the teen shot himself in the head and succumbed to his injuries, despite efforts to save his life.
According to the authorities, there was no threat to other students or staff, and there were no other injuries surrounding the incident. It is unknown what led Wheeler to kill himself.
“He should be remembered as someone who never gives up on others’ happiness,” a friend, Ariana Zahedi, told the news station. “He wants to make sure everyone else was happy, disregarding himself.
“Marcus told me communication is vital yesterday,” she added. “So maybe that was a sign I didn’t catch.”
Read more at KPHO.