Volume 20, Issue 19
Community
Local families step up to help Syrian refugees. A7
Lifestyle
www.delmartimes.net
May 11, 2017 | Published Weekly
Police say teen killed at TPHS left suicide note BY LYNDSAY WINKLEY AND DEBORAH SULLIVAN BRENNAN When a 15-year-old summoned police to Torrey Pines High School early Saturday, May 6, he had a BB gun tucked in his waist band and a suicide note in his pocket, authorities said Monday, May 8. Police said the note was discovered the day after the boy was fatally shot by two officers as he approached them with the gun drawn outside the Carmel Valley campus. “We are confident he did plan for the incident to happen,” said San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden. Investigators haven’t release the name of the teen, but friends said he was Jacob Peterson, a freshman at Torrey Pines. He was fatally shot near the front of the school after someone called 911 shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, and asked police to check on a boy at the school. Officers later determined the boy made the call himself.
Investigators didn’t release what the note said. Classmates said Jacob didn’t appear depressed, and administrators said there were no reports that he had been bullied. “That subject didn’t come up as we discussed the student and his background and other issues that we should be aware of,” said Eric Dill, superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District. “I’m not saying it’s not possible, but that wasn’t something that was at the front of administrators’ minds as we were going through discussions today.” “He just seemed like a good kid who showed up and did his work,” said Robbie Levinson, 17, who was in a law class with Jacob. “I guess he was having issues and keeping it more internal.” On Monday, police identified the officers involved in the shooting as Officer Gilbert Flores, a 28-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, and Officer Kai Johnson, who has been with the department for four years. SEE TEEN, A16
Student suicides: ‘Is there more we could have done?’
BY GARY WARTH AND PAUL SISSON Teachers look for warning signs, classmates keep an eye on their friends and counselors have meetings with parents, but all the efforts still are not enough at times. “I think the natural reaction for people is to consider, ‘Is there more we could have done, and are there things we should have seen?’” San Diego County Office of Education interim Director Bob Mueller said about the shooting early Saturday morning, May 6, at Torrey Pines High School. “In a general sense, I don’t think any school in the country can say, ‘We are doing everything, we’re doing enough,’ because it’s not something that will ever be finished with,” he said. “The work on school climate is something we’ll always be working to improve.” San Diego police officers fatally shot Torrey Pines freshman Jacob Peterson, 15, outside the school around 3:30 a.m. after responding to a 911 call (see story above left). The shots were fired after Jacob aimed a pistol at the officers and kept advancing despite their demands he drop the weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun. Investigators later discovered that the student had made the call and had a suicide note in his pocket. Mueller said schools generally have counselors, psychologists and social workers who work together as a team that tries to identify psychological issues before they spin out of control and result in students harming themselves or others. SEE SUICIDE, A16
■ See inside for a variety of photos of community events.
K.C. ALFRED / SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
Students wearing yellow shirts for suicide prevention awareness gather at a memorial for a 15-year-old freshman who was shot and killed by police over the weekend at Torrey Pines High School.
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Del Mar takes first steps toward a new rental regime BY SEBASTIAN MONTES After shutting the door on short-term rentals last month, Del Mar is starting to figure out how much to open it back up. Last month, the council issued a hotly disputed ruling that interpreted residential rentals of less than 30 days — the kind popularized by websites such as AirBnb and VRBO — as a violation in all of Del Mar’s residential zones. The council made that move in order
to establish a baseline from whence to enact further reforms, including potential changes to city code and creation of processes for rentals in certain areas and certain lengths of time. Saturday marked the council’s first substantive discussion of rental varieties, approaches to enforcement and processes needed to enact reform, a continuation of a hearing held five days earlier. The city has not started enforcing the April
“baseline” ruling. The moratorium put in place last year continues to be the law of the land: homeowners who can prove they started renting out their home prior to April 2016 can continue to do so. Saturday’s discussion yielded several key developments: • The council wants to explore allowing rentals for between 21 and 29 days, with a minimum increment SEE RENTALS, A16
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