High school student self immolates in school cafeteria

[Capt. Obvious]

A 16-year-old student set himself on fire in the cafeteria of a suburban Denver high school on Monday in what police said was an apparent suicide attempt and they evacuated the campus.

The student at Standley Lake High School in the suburb of Westminster suffered burns over 80 percent of his body, according to a spokeswoman for the town's fire department. A police spokeswoman said the boy was hospitalized in critical condition.

The youth, who was not publicly identified, walked into the cafeteria at about 7 a.m. and lit himself on fire, before a school custodian grabbed a fire extinguisher and quickly doused the flames, police said in a statement.

....

Another school employee suffered a minor cut during the incident. Several other students were in the cafeteria at the time, but no other students were hurt, police said.

Reuters

Suicide attempt? Yes, but usually for a cause in this manner.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Damn. I hope he recovers. That's just crazy.

[hlthe2b]

2. Oh, gawd... I witnessed this happen to a physics grad student soon after I arrived at college

the crowd blocked most of the horror, but I never could forget that... He was a star student (Fullbright scholar, I think) and I guess the stress just got to him...

So very sad that this young man's desperation drove him to this.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Very sad...

self immolation is one of the worst possible ways to go out...