Senior Austin Rottier was found dead in his off-campus apartment after taking his own life, according to University officials and the Baltimore City Police Department, who were first to arrive on the scene on Wednesday, March 29.
The Baltimore City medical examiner's office confirmed that the death had been ruled a suicide and that the physical cause of death was determined to be an "internal gunshot wound." Further information will be withheld, according to officials in the medical examiner's office, until the release of the autopsy report, which was still pending by the time this issue of the News-Letter went to press.
Steven Ossmus, the University's lieutenant for investigations, confirmed that Campus Security responded to the scene of the incident after having first been notified of Rottier's death by Baltimore City police and that, because the incident occurred off campus, "it's [currently] a Baltimore City police case."
"Our primary purpose," Ossmus explained, "is to support the Hopkins community and [Rottier's] family."
Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell first made public the news of Rottier's passing in a University-wide e-mail last Thursday.
In the e-mail, Boswell urged students to be conscious of each another's emotional needs and to come together as a community in the face of yet another tragic student death.
"The loss of any of our students diminishes us all," she said, "So sudden a loss is all the more difficult for us, reminding us as it does of how precious -- yet fragile -- life is."
"We must also be open to those who need to talk, who need to express their feelings and concerns," Boswell added.
Rottier's friends remembered him as a selfless, intelligent, hardworking person with limitless potential -- someone his friends loved to be around, and who cared more about others than himself.
Rottier, a computer science major from Ellicott City, Md., was an active member of the close-knit, Hopkins-Loyola chapter of the National Society of Pershing Rifles, a national honor society and fraternal organization.
"I knew he cared about people," senior Robert Velasco said, "that he was concerned about how people should be treated."
Of the announcement of his sudden death, Velasco said, "It really caught me off guard."
"We're all very rocked by it," junior Julie Miller added.
"He was a great kid, a hard worker ... never one to complain or hang his head about anything. ... When he was around his friends and in his element," she continued, "he was a lot of fun to be around."
Joe Anderson, a senior at Towson University, was a close childhood friend of Rottier's. "We have so many memories, he said, "I hope I can be half the man Austin was."
"He was fearless. ... Wherever we would go, Austin would be in front of me ... leading the way," he added.
"His bravery, selflessness, reliability, responsibility, humor and intelligence were his most defined traits," Mark Petinga, also a senior at Towson University, added.
Petinga remembered Rottier as a devoted and altruistic mentor to his younger sister. "I first noticed Austin's selflessness in his relationship to his sister, Emily," he said.
"He adored her and placed her on a pedestal. She was his baby sister, and Rottier made sure she had everything he could offer. His love for her was unconditional."
Amanda Kressin, a junior at Husson College in Maine, who has also known Austin since childhood, agreed, saying "Austin had the biggest heart and always made sure everyone else in his life who he loved and cared about came first."
"[He] was humble, honest, caring, always knew just how to make everyone laugh and light up a room ... the kind of person you could come to with anything, and count on when you needed it the most."
"We're seniors now," Velasco added, "and you think you're going off to new things ... not ending your story."
"We're better for knowing him."
University chaplain Sharon Kugler, who has been meeting with friends of Rottier's this week, said she has been working with them to organize a memorial service for Rottier, which is planned for Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Interfaith Center (IFC).
Dr. Michael Mond, Director of the Counseling Center, recommended that students make the effort to recognize the symptoms of depression or any of a number of trouble signs that might indicate the dangerous tendency, either in oneself or in someone else, toward suicide.
According to the Counseling Center's 2004-2005 Annual Report, 177 of the center's 1,083 clients (16 percent) reported some form of "suicidal content" at admittance and that, of those 177, 69 (6 percent) report either "moderate, serious or severe suicidal thoughts."
"The first task," he explained, "is for people to recognize that there's a problem, in themselves or in others."
"Recognizing [the signs] is very important," he added, "and knowing what to do is critical."
He directed anyone looking for more information on either the common, recognizable signs of danger or what they can do about it to the Counseling Center's Web site, http://www.jhu.edu/counselingcenter.
Of Rottier, Kressin said, "Everyone who knew Austin will be sure to celebrate the time they had with him in this world, because he was the type of person that made a difference in each one of our lives, and the people we have become."
