Cops: Lake Minneola High student shot self with stolen gun
Seth Sutherland, 17, suffered from depression for four years and had “finally just come to my breaking point,” he wrote in a two-page handwritten note he left at home before going Tuesday to Lake Minneola High School and fatally shooting himself.
“I don’t want anybody to think this was anyone’s fault. I love each one of you so much,” Seth wrote in the note, which was released Thursday by the Lake County Sheriff ’s Office.
On Tuesday, Seth rode the bus to school with a stolen Glock and an extra ammunition clip in his book bag, the Sheriff’s Office said. Then he met in the courtyard with friends, who later told deputies Seth was “in a good mood,” Lt. John Herrell said.
But a short time later, about 8 a.m., he killed himself in the bus loop just before a scheduled fire drill, causing fear and panic at
the school 25 miles west of downtown Orlando with 1,800 students.
Seth’s parents didn’t own a gun, but he got his hands on one anyway, Herrell said.
Seth stole the Glock from the Groveland home of Deborah Simpson, who told deputies it had a locking mechanism and was stored in a locked case, but the keys inside a duffel bag were missing, according to an incident report.
He had gone to Simpson’s home over the weekend to do some work for her to earn money, she told detectives. He slept over Saturday night and returned to his home Sunday, Herrell said.
Simpson became concerned because Seth had been at her home, where several firearms are stored, she told deputies.
Seth didn’t go into detail in the suicide note about why he was depressed.
“I don’t tell people about how I feel because people have their own problems to deal with,” he wrote. “My problems are meant to be mine. I’ve just decided not to deal with them anymore.”
But the senior wondered about the point of going on.
“If we are gonna die, why do we bother getting attached to people? Death is all around us. The more people I meet, the harder this goodbye will be. So … I choose to say goodbye now.”
He then went on to address five family members with personal notes of love.
“I could go on and on, but the time has come,” he wrote. He signed his name in cursive and wrote, “Goodnight.”
Lake Minneola High and other nearby schools were immediately placed on lockdown after the shooting. Worried about their kids, parents rushed to the school as word spread about Seth’s death.
Grief counselors were sent to the school to help students trying to cope with the trauma of losing a classmate in such a way.
The note he left behind was a contrast to a Snapchat message he sent before he shot himself in the head that said, “[Expletive] all of you who contributed to this.”
Asked how detectives square the Snapchat message with the note, Herrell said, “That’s undetermined at this point — that’s one of the things I’ve been wrestling with.”
He said detectives who interviewed students and teachers found no apparent evidence of bullying. Seth met with friends every day before school, loved his parents and stood up to bullies, Herrell said.
Facebook and Instagram pictures show images of video games and the teen smiling with family and friends.