Hamlet in shock after teen shoots himself outside school

When she got back outside, no one else was around. The teen’s trunk was open, and he was on the ground.

Gaudet went back inside quickly to call for help.

“I didn’t know what had happened. We didn’t hear the gunshot or nothing inside the school,” she recalled that afternoon.

The boy’s body was quickly covered before students started arriving, she said. First responders were on hand fast.

Students at the school were given the option of staying or going home for the day.

Teachers and school staff were gathered and grief counselling commenced soon after.

Frontline trauma staff from the provincewide school division for French-language schools, Conseil des ecoles fransaskoises, came out to help as soon as possible, Tom Michaud, the student services co-ordinator for the division, said to media on Wednesday afternoon.

The impact of the teen’s death is strong in Bellevue, which has just a couple hundred residents and about 115 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

“An event like today’s is a tragic event for the entire community, not just the immediate school personnel and students,” Michaud said.

This is why counselling will be available to more than just students. This includes coaches, school staff, parents, and community members.

Gaudet’s connection to the deceased teen exemplifies how “everybody knows everybody” in Bellevue. Gaudet’s daughter knew the teen, who was in a grade below. Gaudet herself knew the student since his family moved there.

Also, the sister of the deceased is best friends with Gaudet’s other daughter.

Still in shock, the question she’s left with is “why?”

“I don’t know what his troubles were, I didn’t even know he had troubles. He was such a nice kid, so polite,” Gaudet said.

As a mother, she’s baffled by the events leading up to the boy’s death.

“It’ll be very hard for those kids,” she said.

The school division will be helping parents “coach” their children to deal with the tragedy, Michaud said.

Their advice could include “what would be the signs, if you want, that you would see in a child who is grieving and what typical, maybe discussions that parents could have with their children in a case like that,” Michaud said.

The “why” isn’t the focus right now.

“Our main concern is to support, like I said, the students and the staff and dealing with their emotions,” he said.

When asked if the knowledge that the school was the site of the traumatic incident would be difficult for students, Michaud responded “people react in different ways to this. There’ll be different triggers for different people, so I’m not one to comment on how each one of them will react to what aspect.”

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk

by Chelsea Laskowski

Hamlet in shock after teen shoots himself outside school

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