Duncan tragedy shocks locals

The GC&SU community was dealt another blow two weeks ago with the apparent suicide of former student Allan Duncan.

On Friday, January 13 Duncan was found dead in his home on North Wayne Street by his roommate, her boyfriend and university police.

According to responding officers, Duncan hung himself shortly before 5:55 p.m. Duncan’s residence, located directly across the street from Public Safety, allowed officers to respond to the scene within seconds. Cries of help from Duncan’s roommate and her boyfriend across the street reached Public Safety Officer Kenneth Dixon, the responding Public Safety officer.

Dixon described the scene as a difficult one for all involved.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 20 years and it’s a lot more personal when you are dealing with people you are working around-when you are working with students,” Dixon said.

Public Safety Officer Tysen Campbell was the second responding officer, and said Duncan was dead upon arrival on the scene.

“Shortly after we got there, EMS arrived and he was already dead,” Campbell said. “They made every effort to revive him but they couldn’t get him going again.”

Despite the inability to revive Duncan, Campbell called the EMS and Milledgeville Fire Department response times “remarkable” and said both emergency responses were on the scene within five minutes.

Duncan, who was last enrolled at GC&SU in Spring 2005, left two notes for his friends and family. Ken Vance, director of Public Safety, recovered the letters at the scene.

“The letters reflected someone in a very depressed mood that was trying to alleviate guilt that friends and family may have,” Vance said. “(He was) saying, ‘It wasn’t ya’ll, it was me.’”

Vance said he knew Duncan as a friendly man who would always say ‘hello’ on the street.

“It’s a tragedy any way you put it. The loss of life is tragic-for friends and family,” Vance said.

Dixon, who served as a counselor in Ohio and for the Department of Corrections in Georgia, said suicide is a very difficult aspect of the job to deal with.

“It effects so many lives-families and friends never recover from it because there’s always a ‘why,’” Dixon said.

Duncan’s friends and classmates responded with shock and disbelief upon the news of his death.

Junior Jaime Murray went to high school with Duncan at Heritage High School in Conyers, and said she couldn’t believe the news.

Murray said she knew Duncan in high school, but became better friends with him in college. She said everyone knew him as “Dunc.” It was never “Allan” or “Duncan,” just “Dunc.”

“He was a big guy. He was tall and big, and he played football in high school,” Murray said. “He had an overwhelming personality, and he just had this booming spirit that just kind of took over the whole room. He just cared.”

Dixon and Vance both said they want students to know they can come to Public Safety if they ever feel as though they have no way out.

Both officers also recommended university consoling services for a place for students to turn.

Director of Counseling Services Mary Jane Phillips said university counselors are readily available to students in times of need.

When student deaths occur, counselors often go to classes where students have been widely affected.

According to Phillips, Duncan’s messages left on his Facebook wall are a part of the grieving process.

“I think for a lot of people, there’s shock and distress,” Phillips said. “One of the things that’s important is to share why they felt connected to that person. Just to remember– I think that’s important to us. We don’t want to forget about people who are close to us.”

Phillips said that people often incur many different emotions when dealing with issues such as suicide.

“Dealing with grief is a normal process-it is something that takes a while,” Phillips said. “If it’s constantly on your mind and you can’t think of anything else, if you’re not seeing any improvement, or you are so distressed you’re worried about your own safety, we would recommend finding some sort of support that fits what (you) need.”

University Counseling can be reached at 445-5331. Students are encouraged to utilize the services available to them and make appointments as necessary.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 27 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry