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Student dies in Sherburne
Tragedy touched SCSU's campus Saturday, when an SCSU student was found dead in his dorm room.
Police responded to Sherburne Hall about 1:50 p.m. Saturday, after the 19-year-old student's friends asked the Sherburne Hall director to check his 11th floor room.
First-year student Sean Fjelstad, who also lives on Sherburne's 11th floor, was in his room at the time.
"I was just watching TV when all of a sudden I heard quiet talking from outside, so I went over to my door and looked out the peephole to see who was there," Fjelstad said. "I saw a bunch of cops and people who were dressed up like paramedics and the hall director. I didn't really know what was going on - I had no idea. I looked out the window and I saw three cop cars and two ambulances and I was like, 'Okay...' I heard them talking about something about failing classes. ... All of a sudden I got a call from a friend saying that they heard (the student) had killed himself in his room."
Fjelstad said some of the student's friends had not seen him for a few days and went to his room to find out where he had been.
"They knocked on the door and he wasn't there," Fjelstad said. "They called him and couldn't get a hold of him, called his parents and they said that he should be there. That's when (his friends) went down to get the hall director to come open the door; that's when they found him."
Lisa Helmin Foss, SCSU director of marketing and communications, confirmed rumors.
"The local (medical) examiner believes that it was a suicide," Foss said.
She said the student's name will not be released until his family has been notified. As of midnight Monday, the name still had not been released.
"The last I heard, which was late (Saturday) evening, they were attempting to inform the family. I haven't received word that that's happened yet," Foss said.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to determine the cause of the student's death within the next few days.
Fjelstad said the student was living alone after his roommate had moved out a few days earlier.
"His new roommate, just recently, like last week or something, decided he didn't want to go here anymore - he dropped all his classes and went up to Ely," Fjelstad said.
The student was the second to die in the dorms in as many semesters. In September, first-year student Alex Marah collapsed in Shoemaker Hall and died after attempts to resuscitate him failed. Marah died as the result of a heart condition.
Foss said that SCSU Counseling Center Director Chuck Smith and staff arrived at Sherburne shortly after the student was found.
"They were notified immediately," Foss said Sunday. "(Smith) and his staff responded and were on site most of the day yesterday, meeting with the floors and students and the advisers, things like that, offering counseling services. That will continue into the future as long as there are students who need them."
Fjelstad said he knew the student casually.
"He didn't really hang out here much; he had friends that didn't live in the building. I saw him around campus sometimes walking with some other people, you know, I'd say hi to him when I saw him," Fjelstad said.
He added that he had heard that the student had recently broken up with his girlfriend. Fjelstad also said that the student had been a wrestler in high school.
"From what I knew," Fjelstad said, "he was a good guy."
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