OFFICERS FROM THE Michigan State Police Negaunee Post and the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office investigate a fatal incident Tuesday in which a student shot himself with a firearm in a bathroom at Aspen Ridge School. (Randy Crouch/Mining Journal photo)

ISHPEMING — NICE Community Schools Superintendent Bryan DeAugustine on Thursday spoke publicly about Tuesday’s tragedy at Aspen Ridge School in which a student died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Students returned to school Thursday after having been closed Wednesday while grief counseling was made available at the nearby Christ the King Lutheran Church.

“We were nervous, because obviously this is a big traumatic event, but in talking to experts, they felt as though it was best for us to start the healing process together,” DeAugustine said. “So we met with the staff and faculty, as adults, to begin the day.”

The students came to school at 11 a.m.

The Michigan State Police Negaunee Post reported that at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, troopers were dispatched to the school where an officer already was on site in a different part of the building. The officer immediately responded to the area where the incident took place.

MSP reported that first aid was rendered until Emergency Medical Services and other troopers arrived. The student then was transported to UP Health System – Marquette where he later died from his injuries.

An MSP investigated revealed it to be an isolated incident, with no other students or faculty being at risk.

DeAugustine noted that school staff “did all the right things,” with the top priority making sure that everyone else was safe.

The lockdown lasted about 20 to 25 minutes, he said, followed by a shelter-in-place situation when staff realized the incident was isolated. School then was dismissed early at 2 p.m.

DeAugustine credited community partners with helping the school district navigate the situation.

“We had just a team of mental health specialists and grief counselors from around the region — too many agencies to thank right now,” DeAugustine said.

He acknowledged the mood on Thursday was somber at the beginning.

“People weren’t quite sure how everyone was going to react, but it was just really healing to be together, and between the counselors and just people getting to talk to their friends and the people they trust, it really just kind of started us down the path to try to recover from this,” DeAugustine said.

His message to the teachers?

“We’re going to be OK,” DeAugustine said. “It’s going to take a long time. We’ll never be the same district again, but we’re going to get through this together, and the only way we’re going to make it happen is by teaming together and by coming together as a family, and I think our people really embraced that at NICE Community Schools, and that message seemed to resonate.”

Many people took advantage of the available counseling. DeAugustine said that from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, a steady stream of adults and kids wanted to talk about the tragedy.

“We’ve continued to send the message that it’s not a sign of weakness to reach out and ask for help,” he said. “It’s a sign of strength.”

DeAugustine said that people will be on site at least through next week to offer grief services.

“We’re just going to take it one step at a time,” he said. “This recovery’s going to take a really long time. This isn’t something we’re going to get over in a day, or even the rest of the school year or next year.”

DeAugustine said the community partners created bright neon green badges Thursday to let people know individuals wearing those badges were mental health professionals who could be approached for help. Volunteers who worked with those professionals wore orange badges.

However, DeAugustine had no easy answer for people questioning how such an incident could have happened.

“The honest answer is it’s going to take a long time,” he said. “A student that we knew and loved and trusted brought a gun to school from home, and then chose to commit this act, and ended his own life.

“It’s something that we’re going to continue to struggle with. We’re like schools around our nation trying to solve this problem. We’re leaning on our local and regional law enforcement and professionals to try to help us with this. On any given day, our school is a safe, happy, healthy place. We just had this tragic event occur.”

DeAugustine said that to his knowledge, no school in the Upper Peninsula has metal detectors, body scanners or pat-downs.

“I’m not sure that that’s practical,” he said.

DeAugustine said the school district’s policy is that once classes are in session, people come in the main entrances and pass in front of adults to get into the buildings.

“This is one of our worst fears imagined,” he said. “One of our own kids that we wouldn’t expect to do something like that brought a gun to school, and chose this violent act.”

However, he stressed that the school district will need help to figure out the situation and how to prevent it from happening again.

DeAugustine said NICE Community Schools already has two full-time counselors and a social worker in partnership with the Marquette County Health Department. Additionally, the school district been trying to hire another full-time counselor.

“It’s been hard because not a lot of people are going into counseling these days,” DeAugustine said.

However, he said the district plans to hire an individual who is working on a counseling degree, and will continue to reach out to regional partners to help it solve problems.

“We have social media,” he said. “We’re always worried about bullying and we’re worried about suicidal ideation, that our young people are thinking that this is their only solution.”

DeAugustine said he believes that the students will open people’s eyes to where those shortcomings can be found.

He noted that a district parent meeting was to have taken place on Thursday to address bullying issues, with that meeting planned before Tuesday’s tragedy.

Working together will be helpful, he said.

“I think that for people with good intentions, this is the only way we’re going to solve it,” DeAugustine said.

He called NICE Community Schools a “tight-knit” community.

“We all know each other and the kids across grade levels know one another,” DeAugustine said. “I think you’d have a hard time finding a seventh-grader that was more well known from the kindergarten through the 12th grade. It really has shown in the way that the community has supported one another, and again, just helped each other through this.”

He reiterated that the community coming together is the way it will continue to heal.

“Our district will never be the same again,” DeAugustine said, “but we are confident that we’ll find the strength together to continue the healing process.”