Epsom College tragedy

[Bambala]

I was horrified to read the story about the headteacher and family dying this morning, this poor family and I can't stop thinking about how the children at school must feel learning about this tragedy. I am sure the staff there are being brilliant at supporting them. I remember hearing that my old headteacher had died after I left school and even then being really shocked and upset.

Family annihilation is pretty much a male crime.

I find it hard to express how much contempt I have for ‘family annihilators’. If you really feel you’ve no other option but to end your life, then do so. But leave your spouse and child behind.

Can't stand the 'poor man, he must have snapped' narrative that you sometimes see.

It's wrong to speculate ahead of information being released.

But it does sound as if it may have been a shooting - I had a pop up saying that the school's rifle range (and armoury, presumably) were a scene of police activity this morning. And that would account for the discovery in the middle of the night, because of the noise.

And police have stated that they are confident there was no third party involvement.

It's wrong to speculate ahead of information being released.

but I'm going to go ahead and do it any way 🤦🏻‍♀️

@BlueHeelers I was thinking to myself how the press would have reported it had it been a head of a run down comp somewhere. Less sensationalist? Or more? "Head of school in special measures has been found dead at home with her family. Questions being asked by local community as to why there were guns kept at school."

@MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake I agree, but somehow my emotion creeps in and I start feeling that maybe he was abused as a child etc etc. I mean, I even felt sorry for Tommy Lee Royce last night for a moment or two....Just as well I am not a person who gives out criminal sentences!

My first thought was carbon monoxide poisoning.

I guess details will emerge in the coming days. I do agree with a PP though, that if it looked like a gas leak was even a possibility, that would be said straight away.

Mine was murder-suicide.

@drpet49 that was my second. But with the alarm being raised in the middle of the night. Unfortunately I think you are correct.

Wtf is a school doing having a rifle range on site!

Incredibly tragic.

They look such a lovely family (obviously, it's just a picture, I realise that. But those who know them seem to say the same).

Wrong to speculate, of course. But I desperately hope it was something like CO poisoning.

Fair enough @SoupDragon

We do not know it's a shooting. Only that the rifle ranges have been a scene of police activity. And that might be for completeness, rather than a line of enquiry.

And there could be lots of reasons why someone would notice something amiss even late at night

Shooting is a sport accessible to under 18s. My son’s school (not boarding) also has a range.

There are already a few points that suggests that it's not carbon monoxide. If you like putting 2 and 2 together.

Quite a number of schools do. Shooting can be offered as a sport, or they may have a CCF (not all have their own facilities, but many do).

Epsom College is very well known for its target rifle shooting, one of the best in the country. It's just all so sad, we are reeling, one of my son's good friends is a pupil there. Just horrific. The police were called at 1am so something must have happenned to alert someone.

Many independent schools with active CCFs have rifle ranges/armouries. They are closely controlled and subject to frequent inspections. The ammunition is not live, although blanks fired at close range can obviously be dangerous.

And is that desirable to you, and other parents. Can’t ever say I’ve poked around a school and thought ‘great place but it could really do with a rifle range’.
No need for it whatsoever, school grounds are not the place for guns.

I just saw a news report about this. We don't know the full circumstances yet. So anything about what has happened is just speculation.

Why on earth not? It’s a sport.

Are we really all going to be speculating rather than just keeping our counsel for a few days while it is investigated?

Not that the official explanation always makes sense. That river isn't particularly big or fast, so any kind of competent search should have found her by now, especially if she simply fell

Really?? Of course the deaths are sad, but can you not find something else to gossip about?

The speculation and comments on these kinds of threads are horrible.

Do we need these kinds of threads when nothing is yet known?

And to say that it is to be hoped that the families have privacy at the moment is almost laughable when you're posting about it on a public forum.

Maybe...don't?

Wrong thread.