Body at school believed to be suicide

Officials found the body of a man on Friday who apparently killed himself on the grounds of East Valley Middle School.

His suicide note prompted school officials to shut down classes at all East Valley schools.

In the note, the 25-year-old man wrote that he was going to harm his ex-girlfriend and shoot himself at a school. The man, whom officials have not identified, apparently is a former student at East Valley High, said Spokane Valley police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Several family members of the dead man, including a couple whom police identified only as his mother and father, came to the scene of the suicide Friday morning.

“He was a lovely person,” said an aunt, Kim Haugen. “He was so sweet, it’s just so sad, we had no idea.”

The body was found near a cargo container used to store sports equipment near the middle school baseball diamond. An autopsy will be done, but it appears he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Reagan said.

A friend found the body about 10:15 a.m. and called the mother of the 25-year-old man, police said.

By then, school officials had already shut down classes at all East Valley schools because of the threatening note.

Reagan said the man lived with his parents, who found the note about 5:30 a.m. and notified Spokane Valley police. Police locked down the high school before Principal Jeff Miller arrived at 6 a.m., said school district spokeswoman Judi Christianson.

Classes were canceled to ensure the safety of students, Christianson said.

Students of East Valley High, East Valley Middle, Skyview Elementary and Trentwood Elementary were bused to Trent Elementary, 3303 N. Pines Road, where parents picked them up.

Students at Mountain View Middle School, East Farms Elementary and Otis Orchards Elementary were picked up at those schools, Christianson said.

Parents were alerted to the emergency decision Friday via an automated phone call system.

East Valley High School parent Robert Hale said that when he first received the message: “We thought it was just a test.”

But when his 16-year-old daughter called from the high school, she sounded scared. “It concerned my daughter, so it concerned me,” Hale said.

Parents picking up their kids at Trent Elementary School were pleased with how the school handled Friday’s ordeal.