Wolmer's Boys' mourns death of student

A shroud of gloom surrounds Wolmer's Boys' School as students and teachers alike mourn the loss of 13-year-old J'Quan Forbes, who is said to have shot himself at his home on Monday night.

Vice-principal at the school, Grace Leyow, remembers J'Quan, a second former, as a small boy with indisputable confidence.

"He sounded like an intelligent boy when you would speak to him," Leyow recalled. "I still don't think of him as deceased. I found him to be a very confident young man, and was struck by the fact that when he speaks to you, he looks you straight into the eyes. It's always rough when you have a death in the Wolmer's family."

According to reports, J'Quan was at his Cheetwood Avenue, Kingston 11, home with his father when explosions were heard approximately 7:15 p.m. This prompted his dad to hastily investigate. What J'Quan's father saw next was traumatic. The teenager was found on the floor suffering from a gunshot wound in a pool of blood next to a firearm said to belong to the senior Forbes.

Subsequently, J'Quan was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives attached to the Hunts Bay Police Station are investigating the circumstances surrounding the matter.

Since then, reports surrounding the death of J'Quan suggests that he may have committed suicide following a dispute with a parent.

According to sources close to the institution, J'Quan did not show any signs of a child suffering from depression and was described as "always jovial".

A special assembly is expected to take place in the memory of J'Quan at the school tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has reportedly sought to provide grief counselling for students having a tough time coming to terms with the tragic loss at the institution.