HEBER SPRINGS -- A 14-year-old student died Wednesday in an apparent suicide at a rural Cleburne County high school, prompting a lockdown of the school's campus, officials said.
Cleburne County Sheriff Chris Brown and Concord Police Chief Willie Baker said in a joint statement that officers from multiple agencies were sent about 12:40 p.m. to Concord High School after a faculty member heard a gunshot coming from the cafeteria bathroom.
The faculty member went to check the bathroom and found a student with what appeared to be a gunshot wound in the head, the release said.
Authorities declined to identify the student, who was in the eighth grade.
"It's a difficult time and a tragedy for our community," Brown said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the sheriff's office in Heber Springs. "We ask that you keep the family members, the school, the facility, the students and our community in your prayers."
Cleburne County Coroner Warren Olmstead said his office was investigating the shooting and that it appeared that the student died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The body will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory for autopsy, and the investigation in ongoing, authorities said.
Officials described the shooting as an "isolated incident." The shooting occurred about 10 minutes after lunch, Brown said, after most students had returned to class. Baker said no one witnessed the shooting.
Police haven't found any evidence of a suicide note or any social media postings that give a reason for the shooting, the chief said.
"Certainly anytime there is an incident like this that happens, the questioning of bullying always comes up," Brown said. "All things like that are being looked into and considered at this time, but we don't have details that we can confirm or deny anything like that."
Brown said officials don't know how the weapon, described only as a black handgun, got inside the school. Baker said the school doesn't have a school resource officer or metal detectors, but Brown noted that it has armed faculty members and is "very proactive" with school safety.
Personnel from multiple law enforcement agencies went to the school, which was locked down for about three hours. Officers searched students' belongings and lockers before sending them home for the day, authorities said. Parents were notified about 30 minutes after the gunfire.
School officials canceled classes for the remainder of the week, and grief counselors will be available when students and teachers return Monday.
Concord has a population about 300 people. It is in the northeast corner of Cleburne County, about 100 miles northeast of Little Rock. The public school district has about 600 students daily and consists of a school for kindergarten-through-sixth-grade students and a high school campus for grades seven and up.
"Everybody knows everybody," Baker said. "I think the time off is needed for everybody involved."
The school shooting comes less than a month after a 14-year-old student took a handgun into Prescott High School and shot another student.
Authorities there haven't charged the student suspected in the shooting, and the student who was shot was released from the hospital days after the shooting.
State Desk on 04/25/2019