Students React to School Suicide

Lanier High School student kills self on campus

A 17-year-old boy died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the Lanier High School campus Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of KVUE.com

KVUE — A 17-year-old boy died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday on the campus of Lanier High School.

That contradicts initial reports by the Austin Police Department that the incident involved a student cutting another student.

Austin ISD officials confirmed the suicide reports just before 1:30 p.m. in a tweet, "#AISD PD: A student shot himself at Lanier High School a short while ago. The student has succumbed to the wound."

AISD also tweeted that Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen informed Lanier parents and team members about the incident through telephone and emails.

The Austin Independent School District released the following statement from Superintendent Meria Carstarphen regarding an incident:
"Based on the information available to us at this time, I regret to inform you that a student shot himself at Lanier High School a short while ago. The student has succumbed to the wound. And, the students at the campus who were on lockdown are being released to their homes.

Buses will be available for students who ride the bus home. Parents also may pick up their students at the school. If parents are unable to pick up their students, busses will provide transportation.

We are saddened by this tragic loss. Our thoughts are with the family."

According to a mother of a Lanier student, the incident happened in the school's courtyard around noon.

Police have not released the name of the student, though friends tell KVUE the student had been having problems at home. They also tell KVUE the young man had posted a picture of himself holding a gun to his head on social media threatening to kill himself. Friends say they did not believe he would actually go through with it.

To read the full story, visit KVUE.com.

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Defensive Driving

Austin-based Tesla faces new probe focused on remote driving feature

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 2.6 million Teslas.

Federal regulators have opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of company technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Tuesday, January 7 that Austin-based Tesla did not report any of the accidents. Tesla is under order to report crashes on “publicly accessible roads” involving vehicles being operated through its autonomous driving technology.

The new investigation follows another probe launched in October looking into the company's “Full Self-Driving” system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. That investigation covers 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

One driver filed a complaint after a crash while using Tesla's “Actually Smart Summon” technology and NHTSA is looking into another three similar incidents based on media reports, the NHTSA said. The agency is looking into 12 total incidents reported by users of the technology.

Each of the vehicles failed to detect posts and other parked vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Regulators say the vehicles struck objects because the users had "too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”

Shares of Tesla Inc. slid more than 4 percent in late afternoon trading Tuesday.

Musk has complained that U.S. regulations are too onerous and are holding back the development of self-driving cars. Ethics experts are worried that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Musk will push him to ease oversight of Tesla, which just suffered its first decline in annual sales in more than a decade.

Musk donated an estimated $250 million to Trump's presidential campaign and is a frequent guest at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, vetting cabinet nominees and meeting with foreign heads of state. Trump has put Musk in charge of an advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, that will recommend where to cut government expenses and staff at federal agencies and reduce regulation.

The NHTSA said it will look into the top speed that Teslas can reach when users deploy its “summons” technology, as well as restrictions on public roads and line of sights requirements. It also said it expects to check for any “connectivity delays" with the app that could result in increased stopping distance.

Tesla’s Model 3 owner’s manual says that its “summons” feature is designed for use only in parking lots and driveways on private property and is disabled on public roads.

The new probe covers 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, 2017-2025 Model 3, 2020-2025 Model Y equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving driver assistance system.

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