- Toni Rivers, 11, told school friends that she was ‘going home to kill herself’
- The sixth-grader returned home on Wednesday and shot herself
- She survived for a further 72 hours before dying from her injuries
- Her mom contacted the school two months earlier to report the bullying
Officials in South Carolina are investigating after an 11-year-old killed herself with a shotgun.
Toni Rivers from Hampton County apparently told five of her friends that she ‘couldn’t take it anymore’ after being bullied at school, and informed them she was going to kill herself.
Family members said the sixth grader committed suicide Wednesday after being bullied at her Hampton County School District 1 elementary school.
Toni Rivers from Hampton County apparently told her friends that she ‘couldn’t take it anymore’ after being bullied at school, and informed them she was going to kill herself
Hampton County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the family’s home on Wednesday afternoon where they found the girl bleeding to death.
She managed to survive for a further 72 hours before succumbing to her injuries.
Initially family members thought the shooting was an accident because the gun that was used in the shooting belonged to Toni, although the bullets were supposedly kept separately from the guns.
Toni’s mother, Amy Thomas, claimed that her daughter’s school was told about the bullying two months ago and had even called the school four times in the days before the shooting.
‘She was so energetic,’ said Brandy Rivers-Dixon, Toni’s aunt, to WTOC. ‘Never sat down, never. She was born two-pounds, four-ounces, so she’s always been a fighter, fighting from the moment she entered this world.’
The school has not yet commented on the young girl’s death or bullying allegations.
The state’s Law Enforcement Division is investigating the death.