LOS ANGELES - For the fourth time in less than six months, a student from one Palo Alto, Calif., high school has committed suicide, stepping in front of a commuter train at the same location where three other students have killed themselves since May, authorities said.
Tasha Bartholomew, spokesperson for CalTrain, a commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula, said the latest suicide of a student from high-performing Gunn High School occurred at 10:50 p.m. Monday. The student was not identified.
Another Gunn student, a boy, 17, killed himself the same way at the same spot at 8:20 a.m. on May 5. His death was followed by the suicide of a girl, 17, on the tracks at 9:59 p.m. on June 2. The third suicide occurred at the same location on Aug. 21 at 10:45 p.m.
Palo Alto police told The San Jose Mercury News that police are limiting publicity about the suicides for fear of a growing cluster of imitators.
“The research we’re being told is that the more we talk about it and romanticize it, the easier it is that mentally ill or depressed people will make that leap,’’ Sergeant Dan Ryan was quoted in the newspaper as saying. “We’re taking a stand and not releasing more information.’’
Ryan was unavailable yesterday, and another detective in the department’s juvenile section did not return a telephone inquiry.
One study found that between 1 percent and 5 percent of all teenage suicides in the United States occur in clusters, taking the lives of 100 to 200 teenagers a year.
