Torrey Pines Teen Shot by Police

By Olivia Olander and Julia Shapero

A Torrey Pines student was fatally shot by police early Saturday morning following a call to 911 reporting a 15-year-old boy standing outside the high school, according to a news release from the San Diego Police Department. The call was apparently from the boy himself, according to the LA Times.

When police arrived, the student pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the officers, police said. When he did not obey commands to drop the weapon, police shot at the individual several times, they said. The student was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Shortly afterward, the weapon was identified as a semi-automatic BB air pistol by police.

Authorities later found a suicide note that implied the student “had planned the incident that resulted in his death,” according a New York Times interview with Mike Holden, acting captain with the San Diego Police Department.

A makeshift memorial was created in honor of the student in front of the school.

In response to the shooting, “a crisis response team” was on Torrey Pines’ campus Monday, said Superintendent Eric Dill in an email to the district community.

“Our family is mourning the loss of a loving and wonderful young man,” said the boy’s mother in a statement to Fox 5 San Diego. “We ask that you respect our privacy as we remember him and all he meant to us.”

Update: The date of the event was incorrectly reported as Sunday, but has been corrected to Saturday.