Student dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound

Boy, 13, was found in bathroom at Jackson school.

A 13-year-old Jackson Memorial Middle School student died Wednesday afternoon at Akron Children’s Hospital, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner.

Keith Simons died of what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was discovered around 8 a.m. Tuesday in a bathroom at the middle school. No additional information about Simon’s death is currently available, as it remains under investigation.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Jackson Police Chief Mark Brink said the investigation into the Tuesday shooting at the school is ongoing and will take “a long period of time.”

“We’re going to attempt to find out what exactly he was planning for yesterday morning,” Brink said.

Brink said the gun Simons used came from his mother’s home. Simons concealed the .22-caliber rifle underneath his clothing but that he had no more details to share about how he got the weapon into the school.

The backpack Simons had contained “bottle rockets,” batteries and ammunition. Brink would not say how much ammunition was in the backpack.

“There was nothing in there that would make you believe that he had a bomb,” Brink said.

It is still unclear if Simons fired the gun intentionally or accidentally.

On a 911 call, which was released to media on Wednesday, an assistant principal at the middle school told a dispatcher the student has shot himself and needs help, though his pulse remains steady.

Sandra Easterly, of Perry Twp., a great-grandmother of Keith Simons, said the family remained at Akron Children’s Hospital Wednesday afternoon. She said the family was not prepared to speak about the situation.

Simons has few public posts on his social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook, and they don’t indicate he planned to take a gun to school with him or had an intention of being violent.

A post on his mother’s Facebook page says she previously was part of a military community and has many friends who served or still are serving in the armed forces.