The apparent suicide of a high school cross country coach who worked in the government school system in Greenville County, South Carolina, sparked a wave of speculation – especially with regard to the continued coverage of this medium on Thornblade Saga, a series of scandals from a nearby country club.
According to our sources, however, there is “no connection” between the death of Riverside High School cross country coach Eric Cummings and any of the Thornblade-related scandals we’ve been covering in the past few months.
However, Cummings was the focus of an ongoing investigation by the Greenville County school district and the Greer, SC police department, according to our sources. The decorated coach was placed on administrative leave by the district pending the outcome of the inquiry.
According to our sources, Cummings took his own life on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at his home in Lyman, SC – three weeks after he was put on leave by the school district.
The school authorities were informed by the local authorities that the cause of death was “suicide by hanging”.
What were the police and school officials investigating?
It is not immediately clear …
“No reason was given for the license,” reporters Daniel Gross and Geoff Preston of The Greenville News noticed in your coverage.
news reporter Cody Alcorn from Fox Carolina tweeted that the Cummings investigation involved “allegations made by a woman (a former student) who pursued Cummings.
“She held out her hand to me,” Alcorn tweeted.
Sources familiar with the investigation told us that at least two alumni at the school accused Cummings of requesting nude photos of them.
Cummings has coached women’s and men’s track and field and cross country teams in Riverside since 2006 – winning multiple state championships and national coach honors of the year in 2017. Previously, he trained at Byrnes High School in Duncan, SC
As is our custom in reporting suicides, if someone reading this post is dealing with issues that make them question whether they should take their own lives (or try to get hurt), please – call a friend.
You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-TALK.
You are not alone, in other words.
Developing …
-FITSNews
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