A 17-year-old high school student was the third young man to die in a span of six days, leaving a community in shock and wondering why. The most recent incident, believed to be a suicide, follows another alleged suicide and a suspected case of fatal alcohol poisoning.
According to the Malibu Patch website, on Monday the student from Agoura High School allegedly drove his car off Piuma Road, and the car burst into flames, triggering a small brushfire. The young man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the fire was extinguished less than an hour later by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The incident is being investigated as a suicide. Sgt. Daniel Nagelmann from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station told Malibu Patch that the student sent out a mass text to fellow classmates saying goodbye and notifying them of where they could find his body.
The day before that, Sunday, Oct. 30, Griffen Kramer a student Thousand Oaks High was found dead after spending the night at a friend’s house in Thousand Oaks. Kramer, 18, was a backup quarterback for his high school football team and the son of former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer.
Although the cause of death is believed to be alcohol poisoning, Sgt. Vivian Mays from the LA County Sheriff’s Department at the Lost Hills Station told Malibu Patch, “It appeared Kramer might have had some kind of pre-existing medical condition; however, sheriff’s officials declined to comment on the possibility of alcohol poisoning, saying it was too early to pinpoint the cause.”
Five days before that, Tuesday, Oct. 25, a 21-year-old man reportedly jumped 100 feet to his death off the Ridge Dam at Malibu Creek, located three miles inland from PCH.
Mays told Malibu Patch that “there was a text message to a friend and a note left in [his] car. He was upset about his grades.”
It was reported that another young man was spotted on the ledge around 5 p.m. Authorities said he was a friend of the victim looking for him after he received the text.
The three deaths of young men in such a short period of time comes as a shock to the community. Several community members took to their Web browsers and voiced their opinions and concerns on Malibu Patch.
“Maybe as a community we don’t need to allow another bar opening up in T.O. — Especially a ‘Hooters’ which appears to be designed to attract the younger males of our community,” one user said in response to an article about Kramer.
Other community members expressed interest in coming together as a community: “Another tragedy in our community. I feel helpless and sad. There must be something we can do. I would like to meet with students, parents and teachers to figure out how and what we can do, as a community, to help our children. Who is interested?”
Along with candlelight vigils, Facebook groups and Tumblr pages in memory of the three victims have been created.