Parents who lost son to suicide at Doherty High describe teenager as amazing, beautiful, hilarious

Shelle and Scott Crookston are trying to somehow cope with the loss of a child.

“Sometimes it feels indescribable,” Shelle said. “I feel like I am telling somebody else’s sad story, not mine. Every 20 minutes feels a little bit different then before.”

Right before class on September 11, the Crookstons’ son Jake, 15, walked into the school bathroom at Doherty High in Colorado Springs and shot himself.

“He knew about gun safety,” his dad Scott said. “One of our fun things to do was to go shooting. It never crossed my mind he would do something like this.”

The night before, Jake spent a quiet night at home watching TV with his dad, who just returned home from a deployment to Kuwait at the end of July

The Crookstons said if there’s a message, it’s talk to your kids.

“Let them know things always get better,” Scott said. “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. It may seem bad now but it will get better.”

The pain is unbearable but Shelle takes comfort in her belief that Jake is now her guardian angel watching over and protecting his family.

“Any words that I use aren’t worthy enough to describe him,” Shelle said.

The Crookstons will lead a suicide prevention walk in St. George, Utah, this Saturday in Jake’s honor.