Tidehaven Prayers

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Matagorda Co. High School Placed on Lockdown After Suicide

Last Edited: Friday, 04 May 2007, 12:13 PM CDT
Created: Friday, 04 May 2007, 10:45 AM CDT

Elmaton, Texas

Tidehaven High School in Matagorda County was placed under a lockdown Friday morning after an apparent suicide at the school.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's department told FOX 26 news the body of a 15-year-old female student was discovered in a restroom at the school just before 8:30 a.m.

Investigators believe the girl shot herself using a gun she brought into the school under her clothing. A school official says there are no metal detectors at the school.

Matagorda County Sheriff James Mitchell told FOX 26 News the gun used in the shooting belonged to a relative of the student.

No other students were injured in the shooting, and no one else was in the restroom at the time. Officials allowed parents to pick their children up as the lockdown continued Friday morning.

Counselors have been called into the school from neighboring districts to assist students in the grieving process.

Tidehaven High School is located about 70 miles southwest of Houston in Elmaton, Texas. The district's website says 274 students are enrolled in the school.

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Teen kills self at a Matagorda County school


Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


A 15-year-old student at Tidehaven high school in Matagorda County shot and killed herself in a school bathroom this morning.

The girl, who is not yet being identified by officials, was apparently alone in the bathroom when the incident occurred about 8:30.

Tidehaven High School is near the town of Elmaton and serves northwestern Matagorda County. It has about 275 students. Elmaton is about 108 miles southwest of Houston.

Matagorda County Sheriff James Mitchell said friends of the girl said she had been depressed and had talked of suicide. No note has been found, he said.

The girl was in band class during the first period when she asked to go to the bathroom, Mitchell said. When she didn't return, the teacher sent another student to check on her. The second student found her body, he said.

The school has remained on lockdown since the incident, Mitchell said. "We didn't want students changing classes during the investigation,'' he said.

Parents are being allowed to pick up students.