Two suicides reported in a week

Following a recent spike in suicides on Vashon, two people on the island died by suicide in late September.

Following a recent spike in suicides on Vashon, two people on the island died by suicide in late September.

Last Wednesday, Sept. 25, Travis Eberle, 22, died by suicide. According to an email sent by Vashon High School principal Danny Rock to VHS families, Eberle went to VHS and last attended the school in 2007.

Rock said VHS staff and counselors from Vashon Youth & Family Services made themselves available to students seeking help.

Eberle’s death was the fourth reported suicide of a young person in their teens or early 20s in the last 12 months.

On Sept. 20, a man died by suicide at the Vashon Cemetery, according to a police report. A spokesman for The King County Sheriff’s Office declined to give details on the incident, citing a policy that information about suicides is not publicly released. The King County Medical Examiner’s  Office, however, confirmed that the man was 79-year-old Claude Bibbins.

According to official statistics, there are normally zero to three suicides reported per year on Vashon.