Vince Nett has been identified as the sophomore at Standley Lake High School in Colorado who set himself on fire in a suicide attempt.
More than 80 percent of the teen’s body was burned, fire officials said.
Nett doused himself with oil and set himself on fire just after 7 a.m., sources told 9NEWS.
He is in critical condition in a local hospital.
Nett left a suicide note that has been circulated online. It says: “This is not someone’s fault. I had this planned for years.” He also said that his friends tried to talk him out of doing it. The note concludes with: “If anyone says that they know why I did this...nobody knows and nobody will.”
Nett also drank a water bottle full of bleach before setting himself on fire.
Leif Samson was present when the situation happened.
“I saw this explosion happening in the lunch room,” he told KWGN. ”Everyone started running out screaming, ‘Fire!’ I just grabbed my backpack and ran upstairs, and I looked out the windows overlooking the cafeteria. That’s when I found out it was a guy on fire.”
Two school employees used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out.
Nett was not trying to harm anyone else, police spokeswoman Cheryl Spottke said.
Classes have not resumed as of yet at the school.
