6th grader takes own life

A sixth-grade student at Hillsboro Middle / High School died of an apparent suicide Wednesday evening.

Out of concern for the family, the student and family and factors that may have motivated the death are not being identified at this time.

Hillsboro ambulance was dispatched at 5:03 p.m. Wednesday for an 11-year-old at an address northeast of Hillsboro, near Marion Reservoir.

The ambulance arrived at a home at 5:11 p.m., according to ambulance director Mickey Price and monitored radio transmissions.

Ambulance supervisors attempted to arrange for a helicopter ambulance for the victim, who was found hanging after automatic cell phone alerts monitoring blood sugar ceased. No helicopter ambulance was available because of weather, however.

The original caller, ambulance attendants, and ambulance superisors attempted cardiopulmonary resucitation for nearly an hour, inititally classifying the pre-teen as "code blue" (not breathing) then "code red" (in life-threatening condition) before declaring "code black" (death) at 6:04 p.m.

Hillsboro school officials said Thursday that the loss had deeply affected the school and that students and staff were expected to come together in coming days to support one another.

A middle school track meet scheduled for Thursday at Hillsboro was canceled. Counselors and youth pastors were available for students and staff, with additional counseling planned through next week, the district said. Locations for services were shared with students and families.

District officials offered parents the option of keeping children home from school Thursday if they chose. Friday already was a scheduled day off because of Good Friday. School officials encouraged families to ensure that students were not left alone as the community processed the loss.

In a statement, school officials wrote: “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the family, friends, and all who knew this student during this difficult time.”

The statement urged anyone in crisis to call 988 to reach a suicide and crisis life line.