Georgia Tech Recruit Bryce Gowdy’s Death Ruled Suicide

Monday,17-year-old Georgia Tech football recruit BryceGowdy was struck by a train just one week before he was set to begin playing for the school. Now the Broward County Medical Examiner’s officer has ruled the South Florida hopeful’s death a suicide.

Speaking in a video uploaded to social media, Gowdy’s mother, Shibbon Winnelle, said that her son had been acting strange days before his death. 

“He kept talking about the signs and the symbols that he was seeing all over the place,” Winnelle said. “About how he could see the world for what it really was. He kept saying that he could see people for what they really are […] He had a lot of questions about spirituality, and life. He kept asking me if I was OK, if his brothers were gonna be OK. I told him yeah. We sat in the car yesterday because we didn’t have anywhere to go, and he sat next to me all day just talking.”

According to Winnelle, however, Gowdy’s words were also met with positive thinking as he looked forward to his future at Tech as he prepared to study either engineering or finance. Regret over leaving his family to pursue these ambitions, however, reportedly troubled the young Gowdy.

“Our entire Georgia Tech football family is devastated by the news of Bryce’s passing,” said Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins in a statement. “Bryce was an outstanding young man with a very bright future. He was a great friend to many, including many of our current and incoming team members.”