GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Dacula High School student died Wednesday after deliberately injuring herself in the school gym, the principal said.
Skyler Byrd died after being treated by emergency responders and taken to the hospital, Principal Bryan Long wrote in a letter to parents posted on the school's website. The letter said Byrd "attempted to harm herself at school."
Channel 2 Action News has learned the student fell from the second story of the school's new gym.
The incident sent shock waves through the school on Thursday.
"The principal is upset, the teachers are sad, the kids... everyone knows," a senior at the school told Channel 2's Wendy Corona.
Thursday morning, the senior class organized a prayer vigil for their classmate.
"We've all come together," said student Jillian Varela. "We had a prayer session this morning and a moment of silence today, and you can just tell the difference that people are mourning."
The community is rallying around #OneFamilyOneDacula.
Some students have said Byrd was a target of bullying, but school officials are not making the connection right now. Still, students say attention is now being focused on bullying and compassion.
"I definitely think it makes people reconsider what they say and who they're saying it to and it makes people think about their actions," said Varela.
WSBTV
