Another Rancho Cucamonga teenager committed suicide on Highway 210 near the Haven Avenue overpass, officials said.

“I am sorry to have to share with you the tragic news regarding another Grizzly,” Los Osos High School Principal Eric Cypher said in a message to students’ families on Thursday, September 26. “We learned early this morning that senior and beloved Grizzly, Connor Furutan, has passed away. Connor was involved in theater and choir.(…)Our thoughts and prayers are with the grieving family.”

Cypher said the school’s on-campus wellness center will have counselors available, peer counselors for students and district therapists for those needing support. He also instructed families who needed immediate support to call or text 988, a suicide and crisis lifeline.

“Please know that we love you and want to support you now,” he concluded.

Furutan’s death comes nearly two weeks after the suicide of another Los Osos student. Emily Gold, 17, committed suicide on September 13 in the same location. On Friday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a second person committed suicide on the Haven Avenue overpass, but did not release the name.

Rancho Cucamonga has been here before. At the beginning of the 2018–19 school year, four students, including three Chaffey Joint Union High School District students and one Alta Loma Elementary School District student, committed suicide in August 2018.

The city of Rancho Cucamonga does not track how often people commit suicide on the overpass, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Camacho-Curtis. But “it has been at least 10 years” since the last suicides there before this month, she wrote in an email.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to the safety and mental health of our residents, we want the community to know that we have begun the process of contacting Caltrans to explore ways to make the viaduct safer,” Camacho-Curtis continued. “Our goal is to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.”

A small prayer group of Rancho Cucamonga residents pray on the outskirts of the Los Osos High School campus after a second student was killed on Highway 210 at Haven Avenue. City officials say they are working with Caltrans to improve safety on the overpass, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)

Jessica Barreto 19, a Rancho Cucamonga resident and former Los Osos student, lays flowers along the Highway 210 overpass following the death of a Los Osos High School sophomore on Highway 210 at Haven Avenue. City officials say they are working with Caltrans to improve safety on an overpass, Rancho Cucamonga, California, September 27, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)

A second Los Osos High School student died on Highway 210 at Haven Avenue. City officials say they are working with Caltrans to improve safety on an overpass, Rancho Cucamonga, California, September 27, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)

A bouquet of flowers lies on the Highway 210 overpass following the death of a Los Osos High School sophomore on Highway 210 at Haven Avenue. City officials say they are working with Caltrans to improve safety on an overpass, Rancho Cucamonga, California, September 27, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)

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A small prayer group of Rancho Cucamonga residents pray on the outskirts of the Los Osos High School campus after a second student was killed on Highway 210 at Haven Avenue. City officials say they are working with Caltrans to improve safety on the overpass, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Contributing Photographer/John Valenzuela)

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Jimmy and Deanna Mettias, who have two sons attending Los Osos, organized a prayer walk on Friday where parents and community members gathered to pray for Furutan and Gold.

“We may not have all the answers, but we can talk to God who does,” said Deanna Mettias.

She was impressed by the school and district’s response to the death.

“Even though it’s sad, there’s an atmosphere of, ‘Hey, we’re here and we’re in this together,’” she said. She also praised the school’s wellness center and district counselors’ outreach to students in Los Osos.

The Mettias children only knew Gold in passing, but the students still have work to do, the couple said.

“It’s a difficult experience for the kids,” Jimmy Mettias said. “It’s not easy for us as adults, so of course it’s not easy for them.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, suicide was the second leading cause of death for Americans aged 10 to 14 and the third leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 24.

This fits with trends in the Los Angeles area.

Suicide rates in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are down from four years earlier, according to an April 2022 analysis of coroner data by the Southern California News Group. But these drops affected almost exclusively adults. The number of minors who commit suicide – typically in the single or double digits in each county each year – increased in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a September 2019 Southern California News Group analysis, 18% of California high school students considered suicide in the past year, which is in line with the national average. The Chaffey district is among about 30% of California public school districts that do not participate in the California School Climate, Health and Learning surveys on which the analysis is based.

Southern California school districts that, in a Southern California News Group analysis, showed dramatic success in reducing the number of students considering suicide had several characteristics in common, including:

• Mental health professionals are available to work with students of all levels
• Widespread training for staff, community members, and often students on what signs to look for and how to respond
• Using data to watch for warning signs among students

San Bernardino County Supervisor Jesse Armendarez, who represents Rancho Cucamonga, held a two-hour emergency meeting Friday with officials from Chaffey County, the Sheriff’s Department and other agencies.

“The biggest thing that has come out of this is the lack of funding for mental health care in education: they just don’t have the resources for it,” Armendarez said. “We owe it to all these kids to make sure they have the resources.”

The County Department of Behavioral Health’s Office of Suicide Prevention will host a suicide prevention training at 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, at the David Dreier Event Hall at the Central Park Community Center, 11200 Base Line Road in Rancho Cucamonga. The three-hour SafeTALK training teaches participants how to recognize and support someone experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Deanna Mettias hopes these two deaths will lead to greater awareness that mental health issues are nothing to be ashamed of and that reaching out for help when someone is struggling is essential.

“One of the most important messages we give is that it’s okay to not be OK,” she said.

HOW TO GET HELP

If you or someone you know are considering suicide or self-harm, mental health resources are available, including free and low-cost services. These include: